Universal Language: Hieroglyphs
by Ashana
Summary: Fazbear's Fright is an unlicensed attraction using stolen goods from the Fazbear's buildings and warehouse. Jon Fazbear sends his night guard to search the premises for an important stolen item: a gold bunny animatronic. The problem is, the stolen item doesn't want to be found. (Sequel to Universal Language Cuneiform & Universal Language Heritage)
1. Halloween

**Universal Language: Hieroglyphs**

 **Chapter 1: Halloween**

Freddy Fazbear wondered if it was possible to strangle a being that didn't need to breath. Was it even possible to strangle a being without a trachea or, to the best of his knowledge, lungs? Well, either way, at the moment he wanted to wrap his hands around the puppets neck and not let go until the Toy calmed down and shut up. Beside him, Jonathan Fazbear II was wondering much the same thing, though his thoughts were more along the line of whether it was legal to sedate an employee in order to retain his sanity.

It was Halloween, and the night security guard, Roni Byrd, had completely lost her mind. Since October 1st, she had been planning out the holidays activities. Every year, the Fazbear gang would stand by the doors and hand out candy to children while wearing capes or hats and fake fangs. They used the same costumes and routines every year. Roni had made it her personal mission to spice up this holiday, and the candy stashes she had hidden in every room did nothing to help. For the past thirty-one days, she'd been on a straight sugar high, pestering Jon into agreeing to her ideas and, finally, giving in to using Foxy for this years celebration.

Jon had finally bought the neighboring lot, and construction was half-way done on a new arcade area, prize corner, dining area, Kids Cove, and stage for the Toys. The outer walls were all up, as was the roof, and the wood studs were in place, marking where the future walls would go. Roni declared it the perfect place to scare the older kids who would be visiting on the 31st. At the moment it was one large, dark room, only the studs interrupting it's vastness. With the help of the animatronics (well, the help of Foxy, Mari, Blue, and Chichi, who were all 100% behind her plan), she'd dragged several props from Foxy's stage to the back of the new dining area. A fancy dining chair from the local thrift store was painted, draped with fancy scarves and fabric, and placed on a pedestal Roni made from several pallets she snitched from the kitchen.

Mari and Blue proved to both be dab hands at painting. Roni bought a pile of black and navy blue bed sheets, which they hung up along the studs, creating a hallway that led to the 'throne', as the fancy chair had been dubbed. The 'entrance' hallway, in the east hall, was long and curved through the new spaces, meant to disorient the customers. The 'exit' hall was shorter and went straight from the throne room to the west hall. The guard provided them with glow-in-the-dark paint, and the two set to creating spooky scenes of sunken ships, abandoned islands and harbors, and other creepy pirate-y imagery. The throne room was also hung with sheets, and these had piles of golden treasure painted upon them. Strategically placed lights lit up the throne room, though the hall was left in darkness.

The haunted room would be home to Foxy. The plan was for him to sit on the throne, apparently deactivated, with a treasure chest of full-sized candy bars on his lap. When the older kids appeared to get some of the candy, he would let them take one, then leap up, accuse them of stealing his treasure, and chase them down the haunted hallway. If younger kids wandered down the hall, he would compliment them on their costumes, hand them a candy bar and wish them a happy Halloween. Donnie, who was just as crazy about the holiday as his sister, volunteered to be Foxy's helper. He would refill the candy chest, let Foxy know if there were little kids or big kids coming down the hall, and guide the kids if they went off course and got lost in the construction zone outside the painted bed sheets. Mari was going to be there as well, creating soft, eerie sounds and, if he could get away with it, simple illusions such as ghost pirates coming out of the walls, or skeletal hands coming out of the floor.

Roni herself was in charge of the 'Haunted Cove.' She enlisted her grandmother, a seamstress by trade, to make costumes for her, Donnie, and Foxy, as well as new costumes for Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie. The retired woman was more than happy to help out, and had spent the last three weeks dashing to and from the restaurant, making sure she had the right sizes for the animatronics and checking that Roni wasn't driving Jon completely mad. This year, Freddy was going to be a vampire, Chica was a fairy princess, and Bonnie had, after much begging and pleading, gotten Jon's permission to dress up as Elvis. Foxy was given a dashing new pirate outfit, complete with a new hat that had a large feather plume. Roni and Donnie both got pirate outfits as well, to fit their role as the Haunted Cove helpers.

Now, all their hard work was going to pay off. The restaurant had closed at four that afternoon, which gave Roni and her co-conspirators plenty of time to set up the haunted cove. Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie, dressed in their new dashing costumes, would be standing by the door with large bowls of candy. Roni would move between them and the entrance to the Haunted Cove hallway, guiding kids and parents to and fro all night. They'd advertised the special scary attraction for the past three weeks, and it had created a lot of buzz, as well as another small newspaper article. The store would throw open it's doors at six, and close at midnight.

It was 5:30, and both Freddy and Jon were contemplating, if not murder, than certainly assault in order to get five minutes of peace.

Roni, dressed in her pirate costume, was buzzing around like a hummingbird, making sure everything was in place. She had on a red-striped tank top and a torn-up black skirt over a pair of gray leggings. She'd found a pair of knee-high boots with thick cuffs at the thrift store and was clomping around in them, a bit less than graceful. Her hair was caught up in a black bandanna with a white skull and cross bones on it. Multiple gold earrings hung from each ear, and she had on several gold chains and pirate-themed necklaces. A pair of rubber cutlasses hung from a thick black belt, which she wore at a jaunty angle across her hips. She was even wearing make-up to complete the pirate-wench appearance.

Mari was also dressed as a pirate – though none were sure just quite _how_. They'd learned by now not to question the puppet, however. He had supernatural powers, and they just left it at the simple answer of 'magic.' He had on a striped blue shirt, a red bandanna, and had even managed to steal one of the eye patches Foxy kept in his costume chest on his ship in Pirate's Cove. He was rushing around after Roni, adding little touches here and there, just as excited and panicky. Roni had learned that the puppet was able to eat (though it was more of a luxury than a need), and had immediately shared her candy with him. Now both were buzzing with energy and driving the rest of them nuts.

"Half-an-hour!" Roni declared, jumping in place before Jon and Freddy. "Aren't you both so _excited_?" She asked eagerly.

Freddy, looking rather dashing in a ruffled white shirt, black slacks, and a suit coat, barred his teeth at the young woman, revealing fangs. He swept his cloak, which was black on the outside but lined with red satin, around himself. "Oh ves, my dear, _very_ excited." He lisped past the fake fangs.

Chica, adorned in a sparkly blue dress, a silver crown, and fake wings made of tulle and glitter, joined them. She waved her fairy wand – a ribbon-wrapped stick with a plush star on the end – at Freddy. "Ah, ah, ah," she tutted in a high, breathy voice, "There will be no eating the guests tonight, Count Fazbear."

Freddy muttered to himself and pretended to sulk. Bonnie, wearing a white bedazzled jumpsuit and rocking a black pompadour wig, bounced up to join them. He pulled his lips in a sneer and tipped his large sunglasses down, wiggling his brows at Roni and Chica. "Hey there, pretty mamas." He greeted in a deep voice.

"You are all insane," Jon muttered as Roni fixed up Bonnie's suit cuffs and checked that Freddy's fangs were firmly attached.

"Of course we are. That's why you love us." Roni affirmed with a bright smile. "Fifteen minutes now – I'm going to check on Foxy and Donnie." She skipped down the dark, haunted corridor, completely ignoring the ghosts that popped out of the walls and the skeletons clawing at her feet.

Mari pouted as his illusions had no effect on the girl, who hadn't seen them before. He'd wanted to try and scare her with them. "It's getting harder and harder to scare her," he muttered.

"That's a good thing," Bonnie pointed out.

The puppet sighed. "I guess," his voice had an unmistakable whine to it, but Jon and the Fazbear Band were smart enough not to call him out on it.

* * *

"Foooooxy," Roni sang as she entered the Throne Room. She didn't see the pirate anywhere, and so she began to poke her head out between the bed sheets, looking for him in the construction area. Donnie was sitting by where they had stored the candy bars, carefully filling up the plastic treasure chest Foxy would be using as his candy bowl. She couldn't help but smirk when she saw the several wrappers piled beside him – her brother was sure to have a stomach ache tomorrow morning.

"Have you seen Foxy?"

Donnie jumped, his eye patch slipping off his head and coming to hang around his neck. He flashed her a guilty smile and shuffled the candy wrappers out of sight. "Uh, no. I thought he was in his cove, getting ready."

"M'kay. Don't eat too many of those, you'll make yourself sick. Mr. Fazbear said we could take home any left over candy, so there's no need to chow down on it all at once."

"Okay, sis." The boy went back to methodically settling the candy in neat rows, making sure all the different brands could be seen by the kids coming to grab it. Shaking her head at what she affectionately called his little 'neat-freak' tendencies, she moved back down the hall and ducked into the cove.

Foxy was there, bedecked in his new royal-blue jacket, black slacks, and ruffled white shirt. His matching hat – royal blue, embroidered with gold like his jacket – had a large white plume in the band, which wiggled as he paced back and forth across the stage. He was chewing on his hook with his newly-replaced teeth. Roni had suggested having his scary sharp teeth replaced with softer, rounded versions. Jon had hesitated, but she persisted, pointing out that it would reassure the parents. So Foxy was given brand new teeth made of firm foam, the kind used in making kids play mats and bath toys. They'd even painted some of his new teeth gold, making him even more pirate-y than before. Of course, now he would jump out at her and grab her arm in his mouth, gently chewing on it like she was a squeaky toy, whenever he got bored. It was worth it if it got him back in the show, she reasoned.

"You look nervous." Roni sat on the edge of the stage and watched as the fox jumped, clutching at his chest in surprise.

"Arrrgh, lass, ye know better than to sneak up on me when I be thinkin'!" He growled, waving his hook at her.

"Sorry, cap'n," Roni apologized, motioning for him to come join her. "What's got your tail in a knot?"

The fox immediately looked behind him. His tail wasn't in a knot – in fact, he'd spent an hour earlier brushing out the fake fur to make sure it looked nice. "Me tail be fine, lass. Ye be seein' things?"

"It's a saying," the guard explained. "I meant, what has you so worried?"

He went back to nibble on the end of his hook with his new teeth. "Yar, it be a silly fear, lass..."

"Aw, you can tell me, Foxy. I won't laugh." The guard, accepting that he wouldn't come sit by her, got up and stopped his pacing by putting a hand on his arm. "Promise."

"What if...what if the kids don like me?"

"Is that all, you goofball?" Roni reached up to poke his nose. "Everyone is going to _love_ you, Foxy. I swear. The boys will find you strong and exciting, and the little girls will think you're absolutely dashing. You have absolutely nothing to worry about." She stood on her tip-toes and kissed his nose. The foxes ears drooped back in embarrassment, and he managed a smile for her. "Now c'mon, we need to get into our places. Haunted Cove opens in...oh crap, thirty seconds!"

In a blink of an eye the fox was gone, the sound of his new boots hitting tile echoing throughout the dining hall. Roni followed his lead, jumping out of the cove and running over to join the others near the front doors. There was already a long line of kids in colorful costumes waiting alongside their parents, holding trick-or-treat bags or buckets and eagerly waiting for their chance to get candy from their favorite animatronic band. Mari had disappeared to do his job in the shadows, and a quick glance down the hall showed both Donnie and Foxy in place.

Roni flashed Jon a thumbs up, and he unlocked the front door and allowed their customers to flood in.

* * *

The Haunted Cove was a huge hit. Older kids, and even some teens, were lined up throughout the dining hall, waiting for their chance to be allowed back in the cove. There was a smattering of younger kids as well, accompanied by their parents. Roni let them enter the curving hallway in twos or threes, and sometimes fours if a group of friends refused to be split up. Thanks to the way the bed sheets turned, nobody in the dining hall could see the Throne Room. They could only hear the yells and laughter as the kids ran back into the dining hall from the west hall, clutching their candy and talking about how 'awesome' the pirate fox was.

Many parents who had, at first, been hesitant to allow their younger kids to go meet Foxy were reassured when they saw the happy children emerging. The younger kids who weren't scared, but instead simply met the fox and spoke with him for a minute or two, became just as big fans as the big kids and teens. Roni even heard a few parents talking about how much they liked the fox.

Five hours in, Roni was still buzzing around, feeding off the energy the crowd of excited kids provided. The younger kids had stopped coming by now – it was mostly kids Donnie's age and older who were trickling through, getting their candy from the three at the front before joining the line for the Haunted Cove. It didn't take more than five or ten minutes for a group to go through, so Roni was able to move the line along quickly, using a flashing light by the east hall entrance that Mari was triggering to know when to send the next group in. Nobody had gotten lost, hurt, or too terribly scared yet, and Jon had yet to hear a complaint from a parent. The manager had been hesitant to agree to Roni's idea, but seeing all the kids once more enjoying Foxy the Pirate made him glad he'd agreed. Maybe, if the night ended without incident, he'd be able to re-open Pirates cove. Yeah, maybe add a jungle gym and a large pirate-ship themed play house, and some ropes to swing on...

The manager went off in his ideas while Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie continued to give out candy. The animatronics loved Halloween. Ever since 1987, when Golden Freddy had accidentally bit a child, their free-roam mode had been turned off. This was the one night when they could interact directly with the children, talking with them and, most excitingly, getting hugs and high-fives. They made sure to compliment each child's costume, smile at every baby, and compliment the parents on their well-behaved children. They watched as the kids emerged from the Haunted Cove, happy to hear Foxy's laughter echoing after the giddy teens and overjoyed children. This was the best Halloween they'd had in a long time.

Then the bullies showed up.

Three boys – in high school, at least, though Roni couldn't tell if they were freshmen or seniors – had slumped in. Chica offered them each a piece of candy. The boys had taken it, then snickered, commenting that they liked her 'chicken titties.' Freddy had stepped in, speaking in his robotic voice to hide his anger.

"Please remember that there are children here, and use proper language when visiting Freddy Fazbear's Pizza." He watched them with hard blue eyes as they laughed and brushed past him to join the line for the Haunted Cove. The entire time they loudly chatted about how 'lame' it was going to be and how they couldn't believe this stupid restaurant was still running. They also made several less-than-kind comments about the costumes of the kids around them. The customer flow had slowed, leaving the animatronics by the door free to keep an eye on the three boys. It wasn't until they got to the front of the line that they caught Roni's attention.

"Hey, snot-face, what are you staring at?" The shortest of the boys snapped at a toddler who was watching him over his mothers shoulder. The boy was wearing a dinosaur costume and had his face painted a matching green. At the harsh words, the toddlers face scrunched up and he began to cry. The mom shot the boys a nasty glare while bouncing her baby, rubbing his back and whispering to him.

The crying grabbed Roni's maternal side and brought her buzzing over to the line. The mom and her toddler were at the front of the line, along with the dad and an older boy, who was also dressed as a dinosaur. The guard clapped her hands, catching their attention, and beamed at the toddler.

"Oh my, what a fantastic costume!" She commented, reaching out to poke the little dinosaurs tail. "Why, you look just like a real dinosaur." She looked at the older brother and poked the dinosaur nose of his hoodie-like costume. "And look at this!" She crouched down so they were closer to eye-level. "You are quite a dashing dinosaur as well." The toddler had stopped crying and was watching the bouncy girl move, specifically watching her gold jewelry glint as she moved.

Roni glanced back at the light hovering above the east hall door. It flickered to green. "Oh, it looks like Captain Foxy is ready to meet his new shipmates." She stood and moved to the side, motioning the family forward. "Oh, and sir?" She caught the fathers arm as he passed, and he smiled at her.

"Yes ma'am?"

"When you see Mr. Foxy, tell him that First-Mate Roni gave you the special password: seaweed."

"Seaweed?" The man raised a brow, and the grinning guard nodded.

"Yes sir. You'll see what I mean." She winked, and sent him on his way, before rounding on the three bullies, who had been watching her with sneers and smirks. Roni gave them a stretched smile, then followed the family into the curvy hall. Once she'd reached the first bend, and was sure the dinosaur family was several turns ahead, she hissed into the darkness: "Mari!"

The pirate-puppet appeared with a pop and a frown. "Trouble?" He asked knowingly.

"Yeah, in the form of three stuck-up teens who just made a toddler cry for no reason."

"So why not just kick them out? You are the security guard, after all."

Roni scowled. "Oh no, these boys need a special lesson in being kind." Her lips curved up in a devious smirk. "I thought that Cap'n Foxy and First Mate Mari might be just the ones to teach it."

Mari's smile matched hers. "You want us to scare them?"

"No," Roni's eyes narrowed, "I want you to _terrify_ them."

* * *

Mari waited until the dinosaur family had emerged from the west hall, both children clutching Foxy plushies, to turn the light green. Roni ushered the three boys into the curvy hallway, assuring them that they had nothing to be afraid of. The scoffed and snorted and declared this a 'baby's haunted house' as they wandered towards the Throne Room. As soon as they were out of sight, Donnie crawled underneath one of the sheets and gave Roni a thumbs up. She grinned and put him in charge of the line, reminding him not to let anybody in until the light turned green. Then, she snuck after the boys.

The three were grousing about the 'stupid paintings' and how 'lame' the glow in the dark paint was. A light appeared ahead of them, and they emerged into the throne room. The gold spray-painted throne was empty, and the candy chest was lying on the floor, the last few candy bars scattered across the floor.

"Oh nooo," one of the boys waved his hands in the air, "Something happened to distract us while the monster sneaks up behind us!" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh my," the second boy laughed, "we're so scaaaaared."

The third boy – the one who'd made the toddler cry – bent down and picked up a few of the candy bars. "Whatever. Help me carry all this candy outta here."

The other two quickly gathered up the fallen chocolate and, still laughing, kicked at the throne and the chest. In the hall, Roni pulled one sleeve of her shirt down, tore up her dollar-store bandanna, and mussed her short hair. She pulled off one boot, ripped her skirt a bit more, and glanced at Mari, who was hovering behind her. He'd retrieved some vials of fake blood from the box of costume stuff Jon had bought for tonight. On her other side, Foxy grinned ferociously, his yellow eyes glinting. _Nobody_ messed with his mateys!

"Mari," Roni hissed quietly, taking the fake blood and dumping it over her shoulder and spreading some on her forehead and leg, "can you make sure the other customers can't hear what we're about to do?"

"Already taken care of," the puppet assured her. "You can scream bloody murder and only those three boys will be able to hear you."

"That's the plan." Roni smirked as the puppet faded back into the shadows. She glanced at Foxy, who was more than happy to be doing some real scaring tonight. As much as he enjoyed the little jump scares for the kids, there was something challenging about trying to scare a teen. "Are you ready?"

He held up his hook and Roni smeared more fake blood on it. "Aye, lass. Lets send these bilge rats home to their mommies."

Somewhere behind the curtains came several bangs, making the boys pause and roll their eyes. "What a stupid gimmick," one groaned as he picked at the paint on the throne. "I knew this would be stupid and babyish." There was a louder crash, and then a scream. The youngest of the boys winced, but didn't say anything. There was another crash, a growl, and then a pained shout. The boys were just about to go back to destroying the throne when one of the bed-sheet walls was pulled down.

Roni stumbled into the throne room, covered in blood, eyes appearing bright and fevered in the odd lighting. "Help," she choked, trying to get to her feet. "Help me, please!"

All three of the boys scoffed. "Oh please," the dinosaur bully snarled, "This is so fake it's sad."

"You don't understand," Roni got to her knees, "He's...his programming. He fought it. He's not going to...not going to...not until everyone's dead..." The growl came again, and Roni turned to face the looming shadow that approached.

Captain Foxy stepped into the light, coat whipping about his legs, a sneer on his face. Thanks to an illusion from Mari, his teeth had gone back to looking sharp, silver, and dangerous. With only a deep, dark growl, he grabbed Roni by the front of her shirt, hauled her upright, and opened his jaws to screech in her face. Then, he clamped his mouth down on her head.

Roni obligingly screamed and thrashed as blood squirted everywhere. She slowly stilled, hanging there, glad that Foxy was still supporting her with his hand otherwise this would have been _incredibly_ uncomfortable. Mari's illusions made it appear to the bullies that the fox had bit straight through Roni's skull, killing her. The cocky teens had gone from scoffing to silent, as pale as Marionettes mask.

Foxy pulled Roni away from him and, once he was sure she wouldn't be hurt, he dropped her to the ground. The boys were too distracted by the 'killer' fox to notice the girl caught herself and quickly laid down on her side, facing away from them. The grin on her face would have given them away in a second. The animatronic brandished his hook at the three boys, who had dropped the candy and were watching him in horror.

"Ye three be next!" He roared, before leaping over Roni and landing before them, screeching all the while. The boys screeched at the top of their lungs and ran out of the room through the exit hall, tripping over each other as they went. As soon as they were gone, Roni sat up and Mari appeared. A wave of the magicians hand and both Foxy and her were clean, their costumes mended and lacking any fake blood stains. Roni fixed her hair while Mari repaired the curtain. Foxy put the candy back in the chest and sat back in his chest. The silencing spell Mari had put up was removed, just in time for Jon to thunder into the room, looking alarmed.

"Roni?" He looked at the Throne Room, which looked the same as it had a few hours earlier. Roni was helping Foxy to refill the candy chest while happily talking about the cute dinosaur kids she'd seen before.

"Oh, hey Jon. It isn't midnight already, is it?" She asked innocently.

Fazbear gave the room another once over, then shook his head. "No, it's not. There's a couple of teens out there causing trouble. It's _your_ job to take care of them, remember?"

"Of course, sir!" Roni pulled her security hat out from her belt and put it securely on her head before striding out of the room, humming the Pirates of the Caribbean theme all the while.

Jon glared at Foxy and the floating Mari. "I don't know what you did, but don't do it again." He left without waiting for an answer, leaving the two behind him to exchange a quick high-five.

In the dining hall, the three teens were absolutely hysterical. They were telling all the parents who would listen that the pirate fox had killed the pirate girl who was working by the front of the line earlier, and that he was dangerous and coming after him. Several of the children were looking very upset by this, and two or three had even begun to cry. Roni, wearing her security hat, strode out of the exit and stood behind the raving boys, who were insisting she had been killed by the fox.

"Ahem."

The teens whipped around to stare at the girl, going even paler than before.

"GHOST!" One of them screamed before charging out of the building, right past the startled Fazbear Band. The other two quickly followed, throwing harried glances over their shoulders at the guard. She kept a puzzled look on her face as they left.

"What was their problem?" She asked one of the nearby parents. They shrugged.

"I think they were trying to ruin this for everyone else." The dad explained, patting the back of his now-frightened child.

"Oh, how rude." Roni checked her watch. "Uh oh, it's almost midnight." There were only a dozen or so parents left, each with one or two children, and a few teens. Thanks to those idiot bullies, she had everybody's attention. "There's not going to be enough time for everybody to go to Foxy's treasure room tonight." The children who hadn't been terrified groaned in disappointment. "Aw, don't be sad, guys! I'll go ask the good Cap'n if he'd be willing to make a special trip out here to meet you all." A cheer went up as Roni dashed back down the exit hall.

The fox was sitting on his throne, still smirking. "Hey Foxy, times almost up for tonight. Grab your candy and bring it out to the dining hall."

"Aw, no more scares tonight?" The fox pouted.

"'fraid not. Now c'mon, there are kids waiting to meet you!"

That got the fox up out of his chair and eagerly following after her, the chest of candy gripped tightly in his hands. Donnie and Jon had herded the parents and kids towards the west hall, grouping them around with the children standing in front. Roni beamed at the audience. "Guess what, kiddos! Cap'n Foxy said he could come meet you all before his ship left for the night." She stepped to the side, revealing Foxy.

There were gasps of astonishment as the pirate stepped out in all of his glory. Several little boys went 'wow' and even a few of the parents looked impressed. Foxy knelt down in front of the children who had been gathered in a semi-circle, and looked over them all.

"I see a lot of fine shipmates here tonight!" He greeted them, setting down the chest. "Now, who be wantin' some candy?"

The kids immediately surged forward, but to the surprise of the adults, they almost completely ignored the chocolate in favor of chatting at Foxy, feeling his fur, poking his ears and snout, or petting his tail. The fox answered their barrage of questions as best he could, making sure he gave each child a moment of his attention. Several of the kids demanded hugs before their parents could drag them away. The handful of teens left in the store asked the pirate just as many questions, and a few of the girls also got hugs in.

The restaurant didn't close until fifteen minutes past Midnight, thanks to Foxy's insistence that he answered each and every questions he could. The kids that left waved and promised to see him again the next time they visited. As soon as the doors were locked, Roni found herself grabbed around the waist and picked up in a tight hug. Foxy spun them both around, laughing with a joy the others hadn't heard in a long time.

"That was wonderful, lass!" He crowed, setting her down after a moment. Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie joined them, all sharing overjoyed smiles. "Did ye see how they _smiled_ at me? They weren't afraid at all!"

"I told you," Roni said once she got her breath back, " _Everybody_ loves pirates."

* * *

Roni really did try to help the animatronics and Mari clean up the Haunted Cove set up. She got several of the sheets folded up, and had swept up a few candy wrappers. Freddy sent her to get a crate from Pirate's Cove to store some of the decorations in. When she didn't return within half an hour, he and Foxy went to check on her. She was curled up by his ship, fast asleep on a pile of the painted bed sheets. The two animatronics had left after taking a picture, knowing that she had run herself ragged over the past month making sure everything was perfect.

When Jon arrived at 6:30, the Haunted Cove had been completely disassembled and packed up. The Toy animatronics were upstairs, listening to the Fazbear Gang tell all about the night, from the costumes they'd seen to Foxy scaring the three bullies half to death. Roni was fast asleep in the Cove, wrapped in the painted bed-sheets. They all left her there until Police Chief Mike Schmidt arrived at eight, throwing open the doors using the key Roni had given him and yelling for Jon.

The manager knew the mild-mannered officer never yelled unless it was urgent. He rushed out of his office to meet the man in the dining hall. The toy animatronics had returned to the basement, while the others relaxed on the stage until opening time. Before Mike could explain what he was doing there that early in the morning, Roni stumbled out of Pirates Cove.

"Wha's going on?" She asked, still half asleep. "Who broke in? I'll keelhaul 'em!" She stopped and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, finally identifying a harried Mike standing in the middle of the room. "Oh. What the hell, Mike?"

"Roni, good, you're still here." He waved her over, and she saw he had the days paper in his hand. "We've got a problem." He set the paper on the nearest table and pointed to a side article. "Here." Jon, seeing that Roni was still half-asleep and that the animatronics were all listening intently from the stage, read it aloud:

 **Coming Soon!**

 **Fazbear's Fright: The Horror Attraction**

Local amusement park is getting

ready to scare the your socks off

with a new attraction based on the

unsolved mysteries of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

Featuring actual relics from the decades-old

pizzeria, this new attraction is guaranteed

to bring back your childhood in the

worst way possible!

Roni was wide awake by this point. "What the hell? Jon, why are you opening a _horror_ attraction?"

"I'm _not._ " Jon frowned, re-reading the page. "Mike, is this today's paper?"

"Yeah," Mike pointed to the date at the top. "I was sure you wouldn't do this, which is why I came straight here. Do you want to press charges against these people?"

"Charges?" Freddy had joined them, looking just as alarmed as the others.

"Yeah, look at this – it says they have _actual relics_ from one of the old locations." Mike pointed out. "If Jon didn't give them permission or sell it to them, than it's stolen property."

"We don't know if they actually _have_ any actual Fazbear property." Jon rubbed at his chin. "Everything from the old restaurants is either in the basement or stored in a warehouse across town." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'll have to go check on the warehouse and see if anything is missing today. I'll call you when I've done an inventory." He promised.

"And if they _have_ stolen property?" Roni prompted.

"Then I'll send you to go take a look at this so-called _Fazbear's Fright_ tonight to see what they're doing."

The girl raised a brow. "That could be fun," she sighed.

"I'll go with you, if it comes to that." Mike volunteered. "Make it an official police investigation into stolen property – that way you won't be arrested if we're caught."

"Sounds like a plan." Roni scratched the back of her head and yawned again.

"Go on home, Roni. I'll call you as soon as I'm done at the warehouse."

"Yes sir," she gave him a sloppy salute, bid the animatronics good night, and headed for home, thinking of the mysterious Fazbear's Fright and what might be hiding inside of it.

* * *

 **AN: I've had this first chapter in my head since I started Universal Language. I'm happy to have it written. Next up: Fazbear's Fright!**

 **I hope y'all enjoyed!**

 **REVIEWS are LOVED and CUDDLED and WELL-FED and APPRECIATED and MOTIVATING!**


	2. Fazbear's Fright

**Universal Language: Hieroglyphs**

 **Chapter 2: Fazbear's Fright**

At seven that night Roni's phone went off, waking her up from a major sugar hangover. She groaned beneath her pile of blankets and reached out with one hand, smacking around the night stand until she found it. The phone joined her in center of the blanket burrito, and without bothering to check the ID she answered it. "Yah?"

"Hello, Roni?"

"Hi Jon." The girl groaned and sat up, shivering at the cool November air brushed past her. The farmhouse (which lacked an actual farm) was chilly in the fall. "What's up?"

"A lot, I'm afraid." His voice conveyed exhaustion and disappointment. "There were several items stolen from the warehouse, though I couldn't find any sign of a break in."

"What kind of items?"

"I'll tell you when you get here. Mike is on his way to pick you up. Don't worry about your uniform tonight – wear something you won't mind getting dirty."

"...it's going to be a long night, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately. See you in a few minutes."

"Right."

Roni hung up and resisted the urge to burrow back into her blankets. She groaned as her bare feet touched the cold hardwood floor, and hurried to get dressed. No uniform meant jeans, a t-shirt, and a zip-up hoodie with an owl sewn over the left breast. Someone knocked on the front door just as she was getting her tennis shoes on.

"Police! Open up!"

Ah, it was Mike. She heard Donnie yell something and answer the door. The boy admired the police chief, and went out of his way to say hi when he saw the man at Freddy's. Mike was in his late forties and married, with three kids of varying ages. They visited the restaurant every now and then, sometimes intercepting the Byrd family. Gran had taken an immediate liking to the man and the two families sometimes ate together while watching the kids playing in the restaurant.

Roni hopped down the stairs, trying to get her remaining shoe on while not falling face-first to the ground floor. She could hear Donnie talking a mile-a-minute about their Halloween at Fazbears, as well as Gran's inquiries about the Schmidt family. While he was distracted, Roni stole into the kitchen and threw together a quick sandwich with lunch meat and cheese. An apple was shoved in her hoodie pocket and, munching on her dinner, she emerged into the front hall.

"Hey, Mike!" She greeted around a mouthful of food.

"Evening, Roni. Ready to go?" Mike was in his officers uniform, thumbs hooked through his belt loops as he spoke with Donnie and Gran.

"Go?" Gran raised a brow. "Your shift doesn't start for another two hours."

"Roni's been recruited for a special meeting," Mike nodded to the girl. "Some items have gone missing from the warehouse where the pizzeria stores it's extra goods. Jon asked us to investigate."

Gran pursed her lips. "Is it dangerous?" She demanded.

Roni rolled her eyes. "No, gran. It's not dangerous. Mike and I will be looking around _together_. We'll be fine." She kissed her Gran on the cheek, patted Donnie's head, and shooed Mike out the door. "I'll be back in the morning! Love ya!" She shut the front door behind her. "C'mon, lets get outta here before she starts fussing." Roni hurried to the squad car parked on the curb. Mike, amused, followed.

* * *

The two security guards (one current, one former) had barely stepped through the door when Roni was bowled over by a black, bouncing shadow. She swore as she hit the floor, the shadow standing above her. Mike was quick to side-step the pair, a brow quirked in amusement.

"RONI! Rononononononon-i!"

Oh great, it was Shab. Roni groaned at the hyperactive shadow.

"Did you know did you know did you know that you have MAGIC in your desk?"

"Magic?" She raised a curious brow, ignoring the chuckling Mike.

"Magic in little squares of brown yummy yummy yummyness!" His ears drooped. "They're all gone gone gone now though!"

"Oh dear lord...you _ate_ all my candy?"

The bunny nodded proudly, jumping from one foot to the other, incapable of standing still. Roni pushed herself up and, avoiding Shab's frantically gesticulating limbs, got back to her feet. Even though it was only seven, the restaurant was empty. Jon must have closed it down early so they could figure this out and discuss it with the animatronics.

"I didn't know animatronics could eat." Mike noted.

"They can't, but Shab and the other ghosts can." Roni ducked another flying arm. "Hey Shabby, why don't you go find Marionette and play with him? You guys haven't played tag in a while, right?"

"Tag? Tag! I love tag!" The ghost vanished without another word, and both humans sighed in relief and entered the dining hall.

Jon was pacing along one of the table, his hair out of order, his tie askew. There were papers spread out across the table, some crumpled into balls, others ripped to shreds. The animatronics were gathered around, some sitting at the table, others standing. Freddy was looking through the papers, appearing just as worried as Jon.

"Oh good, you're finally here." The manager snapped as they arrived. "We've got a _big_ problem."

"How big?" Roni asked as she picked up a few of the papers and looked through them. They were inventory sheets, neatly organized to show what was stored in the warehouse the restaurant owned. "Like, 'Shab ate all my candy and is on an insane sugar high' bad, or 'Four ugly thugs broke into the restaurant' bad?"

"Neither." Jon picked up several pieces of paper that had been folded over and over again, as though they'd been read through and through over the day. "It's a 'Fredbear is trying to kill the night guards' level of bad."

Mike took the papers when Jon offered them. There was only one item listed on the inventory page, and the other pages were printed pictures and a few notes. "One Spring Bonnie suit?" He read curiously. Roni peeked over his arm at the page, and gasped when the pictures took top place.

The animatronic was gold in color, just like Golden Freddy, only it was a rabbit instead of a bear. He had a bow tie and a green guitar. A second picture showed the suit dismantled with notes about each part, and there was a set of blueprints behind that.

"So an animatronic was stolen?" Mike quickly concluded.

"As well as a host of other items," Jon held up a second stack of pages, which were covered with red X's and circles.

"Is this animatronic like, well, the others?" Roni asked, pointing at their audience.

"You mean sentient?" Jon asked, but was interrupted by Blue.

"No, no, I think the dear means _handsome_."

"Shut up, Blue," both Teddy and Freddy said, still going through the pages. The bunny pouted but didn't have any other comments.

Jon ignored their squabbling – everyone had quickly adjusted to Blue's little sarcastic comments, and sometimes found them amusing, though not when so much as at stake.

"He is sentient, but he was shut down a long time ago, after a, uh, incident which broke his frame."

Mike and Roni both looked curious, but refrained from asking their obviously-stressed friend for the moment.

"We have to retrieve him." Jon pinched the bridge of his nose. "The only place he could be is that stupid horror attraction."

Mike slung an arm around Roni's shoulders. "We'll go check it out, Jon, and bring this Spring Bonnie home. You need to get some rest." The bags beneath Fazbear's eyes were prominent and heavy. "Really, we'll be fine."

Jon nodded slowly. "Alright. Just...if Spring has been turned on, be careful. He's been offline for a long time and there's a chance his processor may be, er, corrupted."

To Roni's surprise, all the original animatronics grimaced. She would have to ask them about this Spring Bonnie later when they had time to chat. "We'll be careful, Jon. Go get some rest."

"Yeah, okay," Jon nodded, head bobbing a bit as he did so. The man was obviously exhausted. "I'm staying here, though – as soon as your done at that Fright place, come back here."

"But-"

"The Cap'n be fine here, lass," Foxy stepped up and placed a hand on the mans shoulder. "The pillows and cushions fer Kid's Cove were delivered today; we'll be makin' him right comfy so he can sleep."

"You're a gem, Captain." Roni smiled at him, then turned to Mike. "Let me grab my belt and I'll be ready to go." The officer nodded and she hurried to the office. Her security belt was hanging up on the wall, as usual. It was equipped with a long, metal flashlight, a solid-plastic baton (which had replaced her worthless hollow plastic baton), zip-cuffs, mace, and a little plastic box full of Fazbear & Friends themed band-aids. She strapped it around her waist, but was stopped from heading back to the dining hall by a rather ruffled Mari popping up.

"Tag? Seriously?" He demanded, glaring down at the short girl. "Why in the world did you put that idea in that crazy bunnies head?"

"Because the only way he would have found my secret chocolate stash is if you showed him," Roni cinched her belt tighter. She'd lost a lot of weight over the past few months, and it made the belt shift around her hips.

"I did no such thing on purpose," the puppet began defiantly, but by the end of the sentence he was mumbling.

"I knew it." Roni pushed past the puppet, but he followed her down the hall non-the-less.

"Where are you off too?"

"Fazbear's Fright," the guard grimaced as the puppet gasped and flashed to stand in front of her, stopping her short.

"You can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because...because he's there." Mari pressed his fingers together, looking downright worried.

Roni looked carefully at the puppet. "He...you mean Spring Bonnie?"

"Yes, but that's not his name anymore. He calls himself...Springtrap."

"Really? Springtrap?" She snorted. "Funny name for a friendly bunny."

"He's not a friendly bunny. He's dangerous." Mari seized her hands in his. "Roni, I forbid you to go there!" When she saw her eyes narrow in annoyance, backpedaled. "Er, please."

"Mari, _chill_. Mike and I are going together." She shook his hands off and patted his masked head. "We'll be fine – he has a gun, and I have a rather heavy flashlight. _And_ plenty of band-aids."

The puppet wiggled a bit in place. "I can't talk you out of it?" Roni firmly shook her head. "Then...then wait here for a moment, okay?" Without getting a response, he dove straight through the floor. The guard had waited barely a minute before he popped back up, something clutched in his hand. "Here, wear this."

It was...a rock. On a string. Roni gave him a weird look as she took it. "Er, what is it for?" She asked, looping it over her head. As soon as it was hanging around her neck, he grabbed the rock. It wiggled and shifted beneath his touch, and he pressed his fingers into it like it was clay. Quickly, he'd smoothed it into an oval with a depression in the back. A blue light flashed around it, and then a replica of his mask was left hanging from the string.

"It's...you?" Roni asked, taking the stone and looking at it. It was identical to Mari's mask, though the black eyes lacked the pin-prick pupils.

"It's a piece of me," he clarified. "I don't have a connection to this 'Fazbear Fright' place. That means I can't teleport there or see what's going on there. This," he tapped the charm, "gives me access. As long as you're wearing this when you're in there, I can pop up to help."

Roni raised a brow and tucked the necklace beneath her shirt, where it couldn't be damaged. "Uh, right. This is getting way to 'Harry-Potter-ish' for me."

"Harry-who-ish?"

The girl smacked her forehead. "Oh good grief. We're starting a book club as soon as this disaster is over." She passed him and joined Mike and the others in the dining hall.

"Ready to go?" The chief asked, tucking a folded square of paper in his pocket.

"Yep! Get some rest, Mr. Fazbear. We'll take care of everything." Roni waved to her boss, then saw a flash of dark purple in the corner of her vision. She grabbed Mike's hand and began dragging him from the room, narrowly avoiding being squished by Shab as he pounced at Mari.

"TAAAAAAAAAAAAAG! You're IT!"

The two humans were quick to leave as the puppet began swearing up a storm from where he lay, squished beneath a happily singing bunny.

* * *

The amusement park security guard wasn't exactly happy about letting them in, but when Mike explained who he was, flashed his badge, and explained _why_ they were there the old man grudgingly stepped aside and allowed them to pass. It was nearly eight, and parents were beginning to lead their tired kids from the attractions. Mike made sure to stress that the owner of the Fazbear attraction was _not_ to be given any information about them being there, and that if he found out from the old security guard, Mike would have him up on 'obstruction of police investigation' charges. The man stuttered and nodded, cowed by the mans serious expression. Nodding in approval, Mike led Roni in the direction of the attraction.

Fazbear's Fright was a squat building near the Ferris Wheel. It looked very similar to the real pizzeria, with white-stone walls, purple-lined windows, and a mock-up sign with a cartoon Freddy above the words 'Fazbear's Fright.' The windows were dark and dirty, a few of them cracked and hung with spider webs. The double doors each had windows. One of them was broken and boarded up. The other had an old listing of the restaurants hours and phone number, which was discolored by the sun and dirt.

"Huh," Roni put her hands on her hips as she looked the building over, "this place is in major need of a new decorator."

"I think they _want_ it to look this bad," Mike snorted, stepping past the stanchions that cut off the entrance. A large sign was standing beside them, proclaiming 'Fazbear's Fright – Coming Soon!' He tried the front doors and found them unlocked. Roni followed him, looking at the doors a bit oddly.

"I wonder why it's not all locked up..."

Mike shrugged and peered into the dark front hall. "Maybe they were working on it earlier and forgot?" He pulled the folded square from his pocket. "Jon gave me a condensed list of what was missing. Let's start looking." Roni pulled out her flashlight and let the door swing closed behind them.

"Right. C'mon, Fazbear's Fright, do your worst!"

* * *

An hour later Roni was sorely disappointed at the buildings 'worst.' She and Mike had made it through several rooms, all of which were long and straight, with doors connecting them through short hallways. Mike hypothesized that it was set up like a maze that customers would have to go through while being scared. There were posters on the walls, and pieces of animatronic suits scattered around the hallways. The police officer had his list out and was checking off every missing bit of costume or promotional materials he saw. They had yet to see the mysterious 'Spring Bonnie/Springtrap' animatronic.

"This is a lot more boring than I thought it would be." Roni picked up the top part of a Foxy head. She tilted it this way and that, a bit creeped out at seeing the hollow head. Mike was ignoring her in favor of shuffling through a box of bits and bobs. Smirking, the girl popped the piece over her head and snuck up behind him. Before she could yell or jump, he whirled around.

Roni screamed as she fell back, the Foxy head falling to the side, as the police officer doubled over in laughter. He had a Marionette mask over his face, and even though his laughter was muffled she could still hear it. "Dammit Mike!"  
"You were the one complaining about it being boring." He pointed out, pulling off the mask and dropping it back in the crate. He picked up his list and looked around the room. "It looks like we're almost at he end," he pointed down the next hall. "It's a short ride, that's for sure. I think I would prefer your little Haunted Cove attraction. At least you guys had candy."

"There's still a ton of crates left to go through back there," she pointed to the halls they'd gone down.

"Yes, but I want to see if there's a way to turn on all these lights." He pointed to the florescent light rods hanging up above. Most of the lights in the halls came from small, dim lights in the corners and walls, giving the rooms a dark, spooky atmosphere. The rods had to be there for the workers, for when they were setting up and cleaning the areas. Lamps made from the hollow animatronic heads were the only exception. "Let's go check this next room out."

The new hallway had a long window on one side. Roni pressed her face against the glass and peered into what looked like an office of some kind. There was a desk and a rolling chair, as well as some monitors hanging from the wall. "I think this is the security office," she told Mike as they hurried down the empty hall and down the next. This hall was short – the door at the end had a buzzing 'Exit' sign over it, while on the left side of the hall was a doorway that led into the office. "C'mon, lets go check it out. If there's a light switch, it's gotta be in there."

Mike followed her into the room, poking curiously at a box by the door while Roni plopped into the seat and rolled it up to the desk. The cardboard box was filled with bits and pieces of different animatronics, most of them Toys. He pulled out his list once more and began marking off the thing she found.

Roni, meanwhile, had found the camera screen and pulled it up. She traced the outline of the maze, tracking where they had gone, and flipped through the different cameras. There was also a pair of buttons: 'Play Audio' and 'Toggle Map.' When she pressed the first, a little boy laughed far away in the building and said 'hi.' The second button lit up an area of vents on the map. She poked around the map for a moment, then looked at the other screen. This one looked like an old DOS program menu. 'System Restart Menu' was at the top, and there were five options: audio devices, camera system, ventilation, reboot all, and exit. She poked at them, but when nothing happened she swung it shut.

"Mike?"

"Mmhm?"

" _Mike_."

"What?"

" _Look!"_

Roni pointed out the window in front of them. Standing on the other side of the glass was Spring Bonnie. He was falling apart, his gold color having grown dark and lined with stains and dirt. Green eyes were watching them both, flicking from one to another. Mike leapt to his feet and instinctively moved closer to Roni. The bunny tilted his head and, was it their imagination, or was he _smirking_? He opened his mouth wide, and Roni thought she saw a glimpse of something yellow and rotten within.

"You shouldn't have come here." The mouth didn't move, just amplified the creatures voice box. "You won't be getting out _alive_!" He leapt at the window, making both humans wince. Both had thrown their arms up to ward off breaking glass. When nothing happened, they looked and saw the window in tact and the rabbit no where in sight.

"Right, let's go." Mike grabbed Roni's arm and dragged her to the office door. They both peeked out cautiously, and not seeing the bunny they went straight to the exit.

It wouldn't budge.

"I told you sooooo," the bunnies voice glitched as he came up behind them. Roni screamed and swung her long flashlight at him, smacking him right in the muzzle. Springtrap snarled and lunged at her. Mike shoved the guard out of the way, taking the brunt of the attack. He hit the ground, the animatronic landing on top of him. He cried out in pain as the weight of the metal endoskeleton pressed down on his chest.

Roni slammed into the animatronics side, shoving him off of Mike. The officer drew in a deep breath, wincing as his bruised ribs were pressed. The girl hauled him upright and pulled him towards the office, stumbling over a pile of discarded parts as she went. Behind them, the rabbit got to his feet, cackling madly.

"Run little rabbits!" His voice was cracking and deep. "I'll get you before the night is done!"

As soon as they were in the office, Roni dumped Mike in the chair and turned to face Springtrap, but the bunny was nowhere in sight. Her shoulders slumped in slight relief, and she turned to her friend.

"Mike," she gasped, "You can check off 'Springtrap' on that list of yours."

* * *

 **AN: The ending feels a bit rushed, but I wanted it to be abrupt and surprising. I hope I conveyed that appropriately.**

 **Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews! To those worried about Springtrap and his place in the story, all I can say is: stay and watch! I had a huge epiphany last night and am SO excited for this story! :D I hope y'all will be too.**

 **Reviews are well taken care of and raised free-range! They're all appreciated and adored! Thanks so much!**


	3. A Long-Overdue Story

**Universal Language: Hieroglyphs**

 **Chapter 3: A Long-Overdue Story**

"So we're stuck in here, then?"

"We could always leave the way we came in."

"No. Way. In. _Hell_."

Mike snorted as the young security carefully enunciated her response. They'd been in the office for nearly twenty minutes, and the mysterious Springtrap had yet to return. The officer was in the rolling chair, flipping through the cameras, which were almost all heavily obscured by static.

"Any sign of that thing?" Roni leaned over his shoulder and looked at the screens.

"No," Mike swung the screen over so she could see it. "I don't know where it could have gone, unless this place has a break area or a safe room. It did look like they were going for authenticity..."

"A safe room?"

"All the old restaurants had them," Mike swung the monitor back to it's place on the wall and peered down the length of the window, looking for any sign of their current foe. "They weren't on the animatronics internal maps – the ones in their programming that allow them to walk around the restaurant."

"So people could hide from the animatronics in these rooms?" Roni quickly deduced, flashing her light down the exit hallway, glad to see it was still empty.

"Yeah, they couldn't get in. If there's one in this building, Springtrap may be there, unless they reprogrammed him to be unable to see it." Mike watched as the girl flopped down beside the box of destroyed animatronic parts and began to rifle through it.

"Too bad we don't know where it is." She pulled out a plastic replica of Bonnie's red guitar and ran a hand down the strings. They released a terribly out-of-tune cry, making both humans wince.

"If any of the old animatronics were here, they could tell us." Mike groaned, leaning his head back and massaging his temples. The sound of the guitar hitting the concrete floor (letting lose another screech of distended chords) had his head snapping to the side. Roni was on her feet now, struggling to get her hoodie off – it appeared the zipper was stuck. "I don't think a strip tease will keep Springtrap from attacking us."

Roni paused, one elbow stuck in a sleeve as she tried to pull the hoodie over her head, and shot him a venomous glare. It would have been a lot more threatening if she didn't look like an insulted black chicken. She finished pulling off the hoodie, swearing under her breath at him all the while, until her head popped free with a gasp.

"Stupid zipper," she threw the hoodie on the desk and fumbled at her neckline. From beneath the red Dr. Pepper-logo t-shirt came a small pendant hanging from a string. It was an oval, painted to look like the Marionette. "Hah!"

"You made yourself a necklace with that puppet on it?" Mike got up from his seat and stood beside her, peering at the shiny trinket. "I knew you were friends, but this is a little creepy..."

"Shut up, Mari gave it to me before we left." Roni rubbed it between her fingers. "He said it had a 'piece of him' in it and that if we needed him, he could come."

"Awesome. How does it work?"

"...I have no idea."

Had Mike been closer to the desk, he would have dropped his head on it. He returned to the rolling chair to keep an eye on the cameras while Roni fiddled with the pendant. She rubbed it, talked to it, tried yelling in an authoritative voice, and even flicked it a few times. Nothing happened.

"God dammit Mari, we need you!" She finally yelled at the jewelry.

There was a poof, and Roni was accosted by an overly-protective puppet.

"Are you alright? What happened? Is Mike still alive? Are you injured? Where's Spring?" Mari circled her several times, searching for signs of injury and blood. The guard shoved him away from her, rolling her eyes at his overprotective nature. He stuck his tongue out at her, then went to fuss over Mike instead. "Are you alright, officer?"

"Fine, Mari, thank you." He tried not to show his annoyance. "We've run into a slight snag in our plan."

"Is this snag named Springtrap?"

"Bingo." Roni muttered from behind them, fighting with her hoodie, finally getting the zipper to zip. She pulled it back on, shivering in the cool building. Both Mari and Mike frowned at what they saw, but decided that it wasn't the time to ask her about it.

"Have you found him? Is he active? Did he _attack_ you?"

"Three for three," Mike groaned, rubbing at his chest and bruised ribs. Mari's ridiculously stretchy limbs were suddenly around both of them, pulling them into a group hug.

"Aw, how sweet." A heavy voice cackled from beyond the glass. Mike and Roni were shoved behind the puppet as he stood at his full height, his shadows swirling dangerously behind him. Springtrap was on the other side of the window, watching them with a sneer. "I see you've moved on, Mari. Got yourself a few new pets."

When the Marionette didn't answer, Roni took a step up and looked at his face. His eyes were darting back and forth, taking in every bit of Springtrap that he could see. "Mari...?"

"This can't be," the puppet hissed, eyes narrowing as he met Springtraps green gaze, "You shouldn't be here."

"Ooh, but I _am_." The yellow bunny's ears – well, the one that wasn't ripped off – flicked to the side as he tilted his head with a sick smile, as though he was trying to convey sympathy. "As you can plainly see, I haven't gone anywhere."

"The children are gone. There is no need for you to remain here."

"So why are you still here? Without the others, you're a puppeteer without a toy." Springtrap pressed his face against the window. "You're nothing without your little herd of ghosts. Nothing but a sad, lost little boy."

The shadows flared up, slamming into the glass hard enough to startle the ancient animatronic. They also shoved Roni and Mike back into the far wall, well out of harms way. Springtrap quickly regained his composure and cackled.

"Hah! Did I hit a nerve? I guess you're not so little now – you must be, what, in your forties? Fifties? You were only four when it happened, and that was in 1973..." The shadows slammed against the glass again, cracking it. "Oh-ho-ho, someone's feeling _feisty_!"

"Mari, _stop_! You're breaking the glass!" Roni grabbed the puppets arms. Without looking at her, he flicked his hand, and the shadows surrounding him grabbed the girl and slammed her back into the wall by Mike. The officer caught her as she fell, the breath knocked from her lungs. He patted her back until she was able to pull a deep breath in by herself, then helped her sit against the wall. As soon as he was sure she wasn't going to lose consciousness, he turned to glare at the puppet.

"I'm impressed by you, y'know," Springtrap ignored the humans and continued to insult Mari. "The others never really aged, mentally – they stayed kids as long as they were here. You, though – you think like an adult. It's an impressive adaptation. Perhaps it was because you were the youngest when I-"

"MARI!" Mike hollered, drowning out Springtrap's sick reminiscing. Neither animatronic looked at him. The man lunged to his feet and approached the animatronic, narrowly dodging a flying black shadow tentacle. The thrashing shadows had begun to stir up the air around them, blowing papers from the desk and rattling the box of parts by the door. "Mari, you've got to _stop_!" The out-of-tune guitar that Roni had been playing with earlier whipped around in the sudden gust and smacked him in the forehead. He stumbled back, seeing stars for a moment.

Roni pulled him back into their corner, safely away from the windstorm. Mike dashed blood out of his eye and looked to see how she was faring. The girl was still breathing shallowly, and had one fist clutched to her chest. A black string dangled from her fingers, and he snatched the pendant from her.

"What are you-" The girl's question was answered when the man tried to bend the pendant between his fingers. When that didn't work, he dropped it to the ground and stomped on it.

Mari stopped his tirade, and his floating – he landed on the floor on unsteady, pointed feet, doubled over and clutching at his chest. He gave the two humans a stunned look, flinching at the sight of the blood sliding down the side of Mike's face. On the other side of the glass, Springtrap burst into laughter.

"Ah, temper, temper, _Mari_ ," he mocked the puppet, "You do remember what happened the _last_ time you got angry, don't you? I think the other Toys are still looking for pieces of Balloon Boy..."

The puppet winced at that, but ignored the rabbit for the moment. "Roni...Mike...I'll be...back..." He gasped, his voice shaky and weakening by the second.

"Don't bother," Springtrap snorted, "By the time you've returned with another one of your little toys, these two will have joined the kids. That is, if _he_ will let them..."

"Who-" Whatever question Mari had was cut off as he was teleported from the office, back to the pizzeria he called home.

There was a moment of quiet as the supernatural wind settled down. Both Roni and Mike focused on getting their breath back as the contents of the cardboard box settled down, scattered across the office. The silence was broken as Springtrap began to howl with laughter, actually banging his fist against the window as he did so, unable to help himself.

"You stupid humans," he finally grunted, getting control of himself, "You just sent away your only hope of surviving the night!"

The two shot him looks full of contempt and annoyance, but didn't speak. Mike's head was pounding where he'd been hit by the prop guitar, and Roni was still getting her breath back from being slammed in the wall.

"I'll tell you what," the bunny actually _winked_ at them as he spoke, adopting a tone of voice as slimy as any car salesman's, "I'll give you an hour to say goodbye to each other before I come in there and drag you off to _him_. Then you'll be off to join the kids, and all your worries will be gone." He strode away from the office, still chuckling to himself.

As soon as they were alone, Roni un-clipped her plastic mini-first aid kit from her belt. "You're bleeding," she pointed at Mike's forehead and pulled out a Foxy-themed band-aid. He pulled a tissue from his pocket and wiped at the cut on his forehead. It wasn't big or deep, only an inch long right above his right eyebrow. Roni quickly bandaged him up, pressing the grinning Foxy plaster firmly in place. "There. A little lower, and you could have been a _real_ pirate."

"Thanks," Mike grunted as he got to his feet and pulled the office chair over to the desk. He slumped down in the seat and pulled up the cameras, flipping through them until he spotted Springtrap near the front. The two sat in silence for several minutes, both gathering their wits while they had the chance.

After nearly ten minutes, Roni moved to the desk and sat on the edge, facing away from the window. "Mike, why were Mari and Springtrap talking about 'kids'?"

She didn't miss the way he tensed up when she asked. "This is a kids restaurant, remember?" He hedged, keeping his eyes glued to the screen.

"Right, and I'm the Pope," Roni slammed the monitor back into its place in the wall, taking his complete attention. "Mike, seriously, we might be killed in a few hours. Now is _really_ not the time to be lying."

"I'm not lying," the officer immediately countered, "I'm just...it's not easy to talk about," he muttered, leaning back in the chair and running his hands down his face. "You know about the 'Missing Children' incident, right?"

"Five kids disappeared while at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza – the old building, not the one I work at." The girl immediately parroted, having grown up in the area and knowing the urban legends as well as any other townie. "A man using a mascot suit was caught on camera luring the kids away and was arrested and charged for the crime. The kids bodies were never found, but they were thought to be dead. To this day, nobody knows where the bodies were hidden."

"Partly right," Mike propped his feet up on the desk and stared at the ceiling, his eyes far away. "The kids bodies _were_ found, and the culprit was never caught."

"Impossible," Roni snorted, "That would have been in every paper in the state!"

"Not if it was covered up right," Mike corrected her with a sigh. "A lot of bad things happened, Roni. Are you sure you want to hear about it?"

"One-hundred percent. I know it's silly, but Freddy and the others are my friends. Hell, I'd go so far as to call them my _family_."

"It's not silly – I felt that way when I worked there." Mike's eyes took on that far-away look again. "Alright, if that's you how you feel..."

* * *

Marionette landed in the middle of the dining hall with an inelegant plop, still unable to stand on his own two feet. Freddy and Teddy, the only two in the room, rushed to his side.

"What happened?"

"Why are you back?"

"Are they alright?"

"Where's Roni?"

"What happened?!"

Mari, despite his protests, was carried over to the stage, where he was sat down by Freddy. Teddy rushed off to grab the puppet something to eat from the kitchen – even though eating wasn't a _necessity_ , it helped him recover his strength faster after using a lot of magic. Freddy called for Bonnie and Blue to bring in a blanket, since puppet was shaking.

" _Stop_ ," Mari growled, his shadows flopping uselessly beside him. Bonnie ignored him and wrapped a fluffy pink blanket (the first one he had grabbed, he swore, though he looked far too amused to be telling the truth) around the shivering animatronic. Teddy returned, followed by Chica and Chichi, a slice of pizza and a cupcake balanced on a plate in his hands. The puppet begrudgingly accepted the food as Foxy and Mangle joined their group. As soon as everyone had calmed down, Freddy resumed his questioning.

"Marionette, what _happened_?"

The lanky animatronic took a bite of the cupcake before answering. "Spring Bonnie is still being possessed."

" _WHAT_?"

Mari took another bite of his cupcake – vanilla with chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles, his favorite – as the others proceeded to panic and yell in alarm. He licked the icing off his claws as Freddy and Teddy tried to calm everyone down. Feeling a lot better than before, his magic back in balance, he snapped his fingers and the lights went off, plunging the dining hall into darkness.

"If you're all quite finished running around like a flock of chickens with their heads cut off-" both Chica's squawked in panic and insult at the term, "-then I can tell you what I learned." The lights flared back on, and the bots crowded around the stage. Mari stayed sitting, cozied up in the pink blanket. Now that he could see it in proper lighting, he did rather like the color...

"Mari, what exactly happened? All you said before disappearing was that Roni and Mike needed you." Bonnie, the over-sentimental and prone-to-panicking sweetheart that he was, had his ears in his hands and was tugging on them anxiously.

"Right," Mari let off admiring his new blanket to soothe the animatronics fears. "When I arrived at the other location – that _Fazbear's Fright_ place – both Roni and Mike were in the security office. They were both fine and dandy." He took a bite of the cheese pizza and chewed it thoughtfully as they all sagged in relief. "Then Springtrap – that's what he calls himself now – popped up." Gasps all around, and the puppet had to fight back a smirk at their dramatic tendencies. Obviously, they had forgotten that both Roni and Mike had faced down the supernatural and won. "We fought for a few minutes, then the pendant was broken, and I was sent back here."

"Are they alright?" Bonnie had stopped tugging on his ears and was now nibbling the end of his fingers instead.

"They'll be fine." Mari finished off his pizza. "Foxy, will you wake up Jon? I'll need him to go to the attraction so I can re-establish the connection and teleport over there."

"Aye, I be gettin' the cap'n!" Foxy dashed out of the room, heading for the still under-construction section where the new pillows and cushions had been stored. True to their word, Foxy and Mangle had built the owner a veritable nest out of the soft materials and glared at him until he went to bed.

Mari stood, blanket still around his shoulders, and handed the empty plate back to Teddy. "I need to retrieve something from my box. Tell Jon I will be back momentarily." Before they could answer, he teleported away, landing in his box. He folded the blanket and tucked it away in the corner, then found an old string and a washer that had fallen off something long-gone. Rolling it around his fingers, he grinned and began to shape it – nobody would be breaking _this_ charm.

* * *

"I started working at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria in 1993, when I was twenty-four. Lois and I had been married for two years, and Alex – you remember Alex, right? Our oldest? He'd been born by then. Lois was still trying to finish up her teaching degree, and I was working odd jobs while studying to join the police force. We were lucky enough to be able to live with Lois's parents – she was an only kid, and her parents had a big house. They let us live there until we could save up enough for a house of our own.

"In November that year, we were still tight on cash and I wanted to make some extra so I could get Lois this beautiful bracelet I'd seen at Kay's. It was a gold chain with little stick figures on it, that came with birthstones. I wanted to get her one with a boy figure and an emerald for her, since Alex was born in May, to celebrate starting our family. Both of us wanted a big family. So I looked through the classifieds and found an ad for the night guard position at Freddy's.

"It was a different building than where you work now, Roni. The 'original' Fazbear's Pizza, from back in the seventies and eighties. They switched buildings after the Bite of '87, but moved back in 1993 when the new building burnt down. They fixed it up a bit, but it was still kind of rundown. Jon was the owner and manager then, too, and he was haggling for a plot of land on the other side of the city. There was enough insurance money to build a new restaurant, but it would take a few years for the legal stuff and insurance payment to be done. Jon decided to open the old restaurant in the meantime, just for a while, so the animatronics didn't get bored or damaged from being off too long. They were dealing with vandals though, so they needed a night guard.

"Jon hired me as soon as he heard I was a dad. It wasn't supposed to be hard work – sit in the office and watch the animatronics. Then I got the recorded messages from that guy on the phone – come to think of it, Jon never told me that guys name...

"The first five nights were a living hell. All five animatronics came after me, and at some points I could have _sworn_ I saw a tall, lanky shadow watching it all from the hallways. Fredbear – you call him Golden Freddy – even popped up a few times, though he wasn't much of a threat since he couldn't move. Whenever he appeared, I had these blackouts and weird visions. I don't really remember them now – all I remember are the words 'IT'S ME' and the sound of crying.

"When I worked that Saturday, they were pretty tame for the first hour or so. Lois called me then in a panic – Alex was sick. He had a fever, was coughing, and wouldn't go to sleep. So I sang to him. I sang every lullaby I knew over and over into the phone to make my little man feel better. I got so distracted by the phone, I completely forgot to check the cameras and doors – I was too worried about Alex. He was only six months old.

"By the time I hung up, I realized Freddy and his friends were standing at the doors to the office, watching me. I waited for them to drag me off and do... _whatever_ they were supposed to do, but they didn't. Freddy actually...he walked in and took off his hat, and _bowed_ to me. He introduced himself and the others, and then hustled us all out to the dining hall so all of us could sit and talk. Of course I thought they were tricking me into the backroom to make it easier for them to stuff me in a suit, but I didn't mention that.

"We did actually sit in the dining hall and _talk_. Freddy explained that he and the others were possessed by the souls of the kids who had been killed seven years before. He said that the bodies of the kids had been stuffed in their suits, so the children's souls became attached to them. Apparently my singing had put the kids to sleep for the first time in years. With them asleep, the animatronics had control of their frames again.

"Freddy apologized – hell, I don't know how many times, for what the kids had done. He explained that they were scared and confused and wanting nothing more than to move on. They all asked me to help the children figure out the way to the afterlife. At first I wanted to refuse – this could of led to my death, you understand. Then I thought about Alex, and about how I'd want someone to help him if his soul got lost in limbo, and I couldn't say no.

"Then Marionette came out of the shadows. I swore a blue streak and nearly ran out of the restaurant then and there. He just looked at me though, then left. Freddy and the others didn't really know what it meant, but they didn't worry about it. They asked me to help find the real killer and bring him to justice, in order to let the kids move on.

"I argued that they had caught the real killer – he was rotting in jail just across the state – but they insisted the man was innocent. So I stuck around and did some research. As long as I sang those lullaby's at the beginning of each shift, the kids would fall asleep and the animatronics would stop hunting me. They showed me old footage from 1987 and gave me papers and files from then. I had my degree in Criminal Science by then, so I was able to use some of my college connections to get information on some of the former employees. It took a few weeks, but we finally pinpointed the culprit: Peter Geary. He was a day guard during the late 80's, including during the incidents during 1987.

"The picture came pretty clear once we'd gone through all the facts with him as the killer. During June he used the spring-lock Bonnie suit to lure the kids to the backroom during busy parties. There, he'd kill them. Over three days he killed five kids. The restaurant closed down for a while after that, so the police could investigate, and eventually they arrested one of the new day guards. Geary set him up – put blood on his shoes and had him hold the knife he'd used to...yeah, y'know, to leave fingerprints. The bodies were never found, and eventually the restaurant re-opened.

"Business came back, slowly. The animatronics were depressed but they did their best to perform. Then November rolled around. We'd been getting complaints about the older suits smelling bad, and even the newer suits were glitching up. Mari – he was part of the show then, he worked in the prize corner handing out gifts – was especially twitchy. Then, on November 13h, the Bite happened.

"Peter came in early and messed with Fredbear's systems. Even though the Toy animatronics were the main attraction, Fredbear and Spring Bonnie would still play and sing a few days a week. Sort of like a 'Throwback Thursday' event. Peter wanted to mess with the animatronics memory so they couldn't pin-point him as the murderer, if it was proven that the day guard was innocent in court. Something he did damaged Fredbear's control, and he ended up biting a kid in the head when the kids big brother was picking on him.

"The kid lived, but he had some mild brain damage. He was damned lucky that Fredbear has square teeth and was a bit rusty around the jaw, otherwise the kid could have been killed. Peter used the distraction to damage the Toy animatronics. They already had a faulty facial-recognition system, so it didn't take a lot to have them turn hostile towards the adults. The day was complete chaos for everyone, and Jon had to shut down the place for good. A few days after that, the place caught fire. The animatronics and most of the supplies were saved – the fire was in the kitchen – but any physical evidence was destroyed.

"Freddy and I figured that Peter probably set the fire in order to destroy the animatronics _and_ any evidence against him. The kids were slowly warming up to me – I didn't have to serenade them to sleep every night. I even properly met Fredbear. He was...a character. A bit odd – like, Mad-Hatter kind of odd. I think the Bite messed him up a bit in the head. But with the kids helping us, we managed to figure out where Geary was.

"It didn't take long to find him – he was only a few towns over, working as a bar tender. The kids wanted to know _why_ he'd killed them, so we decided to lure him back to the restaurant so the kids could talk to him and get their closure. I went to the bar he was at and chatted him up for a bit, before casually mentioning the kids by name. He knew their names – he made them tell him so he could always remember. I've never seen someone pale so fast – not even you. I told him he needed to come to the restaurant at midnight so we could 'exorcise his demons' and then left.

"He bought it and came right at midnight. The animatronics faked deactivation when I let him in, but as soon as he was away from the front door Mari popped up out of nowhere and grabbed him. The other Animatronics came from their places – the Toys were deactivated at this point, remember, so it was only Spring Bonnie, Fredbear, and Freddy's group. The kids came out too – they rarely left the shelter of the animatronics costumes. They felt safer there. It was really something incredible – and _terrible_ – to see.

"Geary freaked. He screamed and hollered and attacked Mari in order to get free. He ran deep into the restaurant. We split up to search for him – it was a bad idea. Geary found an old fire axe in the supply room and used it to attack the animatronics. He dismantled them all; it was horrifying. The kids stayed, though. They were tied to the restaurant itself, not just to the animatronics. They chased him into the Safe Room. I wasn't there when this happened – I was trying to make sure the others weren't damaged beyond repair. From what Mari told me, the kids scared Geary so badly he jumped into the Spring Bonnie suit to hide from them. Spring had been deactivated since the murders, but being put into the spring-locked mode apparently woke him up. When he realized the killer was wearing him, he...he undid the locks and forced himself into animatronic mode.

"Geary died of blood loss. Have you seen the insides of the suits? That's what Spring and Fredbear looked like when they weren't in spring-lock mode. It was a painful and _long_ death. It had to have taken at least ten minutes, maybe more (but certainly not nearly as long as he deserved), for Geary to bleed out. When he did, the kids...they smiled and laughed. They came out of the room to say goodbye to the animatronics, even though Freddy and the others couldn't hear them. Then they...they left.

"There wasn't a bright light or anything, they just faded away. Mari kind of looked like he faded, but then he went to the basement and disappeared for a few hours. I called Jon and told him what had happened. Springtrap deactivated himself as soon as he was sure Geary was dead – he didn't say anything, he just did the deed. We boarded up the safe room with him inside, locking away the killer forever.

"Jon called in Scott – he's the engineer, have you met him yet? No? Well, I'm sure you will eventually. Anyway, Scott fixed the animatronics up like new, except for Fredbear. We didn't have an extra endoskeleton, and there wasn't enough money in the business to build or buy one. Scott patched up the suit, but without a working endoskeleton he was motionless. His CPU still worked though, so he could talk and think and everything. But...something changed. The kids left something behind, something angry and confused and hurt. It used Fredbear as a vessel, and corrupted his mind. That's why he kept sending the others after the night guards – this dark thing that took over him told him to corrupt the others and have them kill the night guards.

"Other than Fredbear's... _issues_ , everything went back to normal. With the real murderer dead, a huge weight was lifted off the restaurant, and the animatronics. Things began to pick up, the store made more money, and Jon finally got to build that shiny new pizzeria a few years ago. Then you arrived, befriended the animatronics in the first time for twenty-two years, brought a robbery to a halt, and even got Foxy his spotlight back. Not bad at all."

Mike gave Roni an appraising look. She'd been hanging onto his every word throughout the exposition, gasping and frowning in all the appropriate places. The young guard didn't seem too terribly spooked by the story – then again, she hung around Mari and Shab every night, so the supernatural was probably becoming normal (maybe even _mundane_ ) to her. Now that the story had ended, she leaned back against the window and processed everything she'd just learned.

"One question..."

"Just one?"

"For now. What about Mari? Springtrap was talking about him not going with the kids, and being, what did he say? Four when he died? In 1970-something?"

"1973," Mike ran a hand through his hair uncertainly. "I'm not sure if he would want me to explain. It's his story, after all..."

" _Please?_ " Roni clasped her hands in front of her. "Anything might help us get out of this situation!"

"Alright, alright, cut the puppy-dog look." He rolled his eyes at her. "Mari was Geary's very _first_ victim." Cue the appropriate gasp before continuing. "He was four when it happened. His mother and father were having an argument while they were out shopping, so Mari wandered over to look in the window of the new Fazbear Diner that had just opened. He watched Fredbear serving cake to a birthday party, and got upset because he knew his parents would never take him to eat there. While he was crying, Geary came up behind him and stabbed him six times in the back, quickly. It was so fast Mari couldn't even cry out. By the time anybody noticed what had happened, Geary was long gone.

"Mari's spirit clung to the diner. He was a little boy, abused and scared and now, dead. The Marionette had just been added to the act – he was a true puppet, no AI at all. Jon's dad had an act with the puppet where he told stories. The puppet had a big present box, and Mari's ghost hid in there day and night. Nothing Fredbear and Spring tried could make him come out. Eventually, Mari figured out how to possess the puppet, and took it over permanently. He was a lot more confident once he had a body, and he began to come out of the box and make friends with the others. As the years passed he got better at using his powers – he found he could control shadows, float, teleport, bend reality-"

"Whoa, whoa, back up, what do you mean _bend reality_?" Roni threw her hands up to stop him from continuing, looking rather panicked at the thought.

"Just in his box," Mike reassured her, "He showed me once. He can make it look however he wants, and can summon up furniture or food or make it bigger or smaller. It's like...ugh, what is that British show that everyone is raving about? The medical one with the spaceship called Tartar and the guy with the long scarf..."

"You mean Dr. Who?"

"Yes, that one! There's that silly meme – don't look at me like that, I might be old but I know what a meme is – about the Tartar-"

"Tardis."

"-Tardis being bigger on the inside than the outside. Mari can do that with his box, to an extent. Anyway, over the years he got more and more powerful and, well, grew up. From what I understand from Freddy, since Mari was killed so young, he was more accepting of his death and was able to grow throughout it, mentally at least. Since he was growing mentally, his powers grew with him. That's the reason he's so strong – he's had forty-odd years to figure out how to use his abilities. He's made himself sort of the protector of the restaurant. When Geary came back and killed those five kids, it drove him a bit mad. He befriended the kids spirits after they were shoved in the suits, and became sort of like a big brother to them."

"Awww," Roni smiled at the thought of big-brother Mari playing tag and coloring with and feeding the little ghost kids. "That's adorable. What about Shab and Shaf? What do you know about them?"

"Nothing," Mike shrugged, picking at the band-aid on his forehead. "They showed up at the diner one day, decided they liked it, and stayed. Mari kept an eye on them, but that's all I've ever learned. They're pretty harmless. Well, Shab is. Shaf is...well, he's _Shaf_."

"A British prick who has his nose so far up in the air he'd drown if it rained?"

"Yes, that. He's that."

Roni shot the man a smile. At least if she became a ghost, she'd be a _well-informed_ one. All the better to haunt Springtrap/Geary...

"Have you made your peace with your god?"

Speaking of Geary, there he was in the office doorway, staring at them over crossed arms and a crumbling smirk. Neither Roni or Mike moved as the three began a stand off that could, honestly, only end _one_ way.

They were so focused on Spring that they never saw the shadows behind them, or heard the whoosh of a wooden club as it smashed into the back of their heads. Both fell to the floor, reeling into darkness, as Geary burst into laughter which was eerily echoed by two others.

* * *

 **AN: Over 6,000 words!** It was mostly exposition, so I don't know if that counts, but I'm excited either way.

Fun Fact: I don'trandomly choose names. There's (almost) always a purpose behind them! (Other than Mike/Jeremy/other canon characters/etc)

 **I'd love to know what you think of this AU's interpretation of events!**

 **REVIEWS ARE WELL LOVED and MOTIVATING and THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! It's SO SO SO APPRECIATED!**


	4. Sixth Sense

**Universal Language: Hieroglyphs**

 **Chapter 4: Sixth Sense**

Roni woke in one of the long hallways that made up the attraction. She wasn't tied up, though the back of her head ached fiercely. Neither Geary nor Mike were anywhere in sight, and the thugs that had snuck up on them weren't to be seen, either. The night guard slowly sat up, wiping dust and dirt from the side of her face and brushing it off her hoodie. There was a pile of crates overflowing with Fazbear merchandise blocking her view down the hall. She scooted forward, careful not to let her sneakers scratch against the floor, and peered around the boxes.

At the far end of the hall, a dark figure was standing in the doorway. It was a man, but the dim lighting kept her from identifying him. That didn't matter, though; there was only one other human in Fazbear's Fright tonight. Roni pulled herself up using the crates, which were bolted in place so they didn't fall down on any unsuspecting customers, and staggered into the middle of the hall.

"Mike! I'm so glad to-"

Roni stopped when the man took one look at her and dashed away down the next hall.

"Mike?"

The girl ran after him, stepping around the animatronic lamps and piles of clutter. By the time she reached the doorway, the man was already at the end of the hall and turning into the next. Undeterred, she followed. Again, she just barely caught sight of him running through the next door.

It went on like this for what felt to Roni like forever. They'd had to have run through at least a dozen nearly-identical halls by the time she stopped to catch her breath. She felt like that was wrong – like there were too many halls – but she couldn't figure out _why_ that thought was tugging at her brain. A laugh that was very familiar but she couldn't place it brought her back to running. That laugh meant trouble, and she had to help Mike before the laugh did something bad.

The next hall had a door at the end with a buzzing red EXIT sign above it. Mike was standing at the door, tugging on it frantically, but the handle wouldn't budge. Roni stopped several feet away from him, panting.

"Mike," she huffed, "I'm so glad I found you! We have to get out of here – there's a monster on it's way!"

The man turned around, and he was most certainly _not_ Mike. He was older and slightly shorter than the police chief, with thinning salt-and-pepper hair. His lips pulled into a sneer when he saw her.

"Hello, _Roni_." He put more disdain and hatred in that one word than any she had heard before.

The guard put her hands up and took a step back, distancing herself from the man who most certainly was _not_ supposed to be here. "You're dead," she said flatly, tangling one hand in her hair.

"Hm, yes. Thank you for that, by the way." The man fixed his tie – he was wearing a well-tailored suit, not what she remembered seeing him in, but then again she didn't want to remember that night at _all_. "Wipe that frown off your face, dear – you look like you've seen a _ghost_."

"This isn't possible." Roni tugged at her hair. "You're dead, you're gone, you're not here, you're not real."

"Oh no, I'm very real." Salt-n-Pepper fixed his suit cuffs, then formed his hand into a gun – his middle and pointer finger sticking out, thumb up in the air. "Just because you killed me doesn't mean I'm gone." He put his fingers to the right side of his skull and flicked his hand upwards, making a gun-shot sound with his mouth. The right side of his head obligingly disappeared in a red haze of pulverized blood and brains. Unlike that night in August when Roni had pulled the trigger, the man stayed standing, his dark eyes emotionless as blood began to drip down his face and stain the shoulder of his suit.

The girl gagged, one arm wrapped around her stomach as it lurched unpleasantly at the sight of brain matter dripping down his ear. She took another step back, pulling her other hand from where it was tangled in her hair to cover her mouth. The man took a step forward for every one she took back, his long legs shortening the space between them.

"What's the matter?" He asked tauntingly, tilting his head to the side as though he was trying to be sympathetic. Roni shut her eyes against the sight of brain and blood splattering against the floor as he moved. "Oh no, you don't get to close your eyes." A pair of rough, wrinkled hands grabbed her wrists, pulling her arms away from her body. She opened her eyes in surprise and found him standing inches away, his half-shattered head taking up her whole view. "You did this. Now you have to look at it." His right eye was filling up with blood, and there was more blood leaking from his right ear.

The guard tried to pull herself away, but the mans grasp was like iron. She couldn't say anything – if she opened her mouth, she was sure to lose her lunch, just like she had before.

"Did you know," the man asked in a conversational tone, "that I have kids? Oh wait, apologies, I mean I _had_ kids?"

Roni did know that – after the press had run an article about a quartet of notorious thieves that had been traveling around America, hitting unsuspecting popular restaurants, biographies of each man had been printed. Salt-n-Pepper (his real name was Samuel Parton) was a man who had been in prison a few times as a teen, before making connections and becoming a professional con-man. He'd eventually gotten bored of it (according to his sycophants, all of whom were rotting in prison for the rest of their lives) and decided that stealing the money outright would be more interesting than just flirting with rich women using fake names until they handed over a check. He had a wife and two kids – a boy and a girl, both currently in college. They'd been in the paper a few times too, though the story had quickly been lost among the coverage of a dentist shooting a famous lion and that idiot Trump running for president.

"I'm never going to see them graduate. I'll never see my little girl get married, or see my son play with his children. I will never get to grow old with my wife." The mans eyes took on a wistful glaze, and Roni had to shut her own as tears gathered.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry-"

The hands around her wrists tightened, and the mans face turned to an ugly snarl. "Oh, you didn't _mean_ to? You're _sorry?_ I guess that makes it all better, hm?"

"-I'm sorry I'm sorry-"

"Shut up!" He shook her by the shoulders, and she opened her eyes in surprise. He dropped his grasp and took a step back, sneering down at her. "You're a murderer. Accept it."

"No, it was an accident, I'm not a m-m-m," Roni stopped and swallowed hard.

"Hmph, you can't even say it." Samuel Parton shook his head, that look of disdain back on his face. "You took my life from me." He leaned forward, and Roni jerked her head back, wincing as a spot of blood landed on her cheek.

"One day, I'll return the favor."

* * *

Mike woke with a fierce headache that he was reasonably sure hadn't come from being smacked in the face with a plastic guitar. His hands were tied behind him with what looked like old wires. He had to wiggle a bit, but eventually he managed to sit up and take a look at his surroundings.

He was in a room with a low ceiling and only one window on the far wall. It was obscured by dust, but apparently was also near one of the amusement park street lamps, since a gold glow was leaking in past the cobwebs. The room was dirty and packed with cardboard boxes and random Fazbear props. He took it all in quickly, rubbing his wrists together as he tried to get the wires undone.

A sniffling brought his attention to a slumped figure sitting across from him. Roni was sitting with her knees to her chest, the hood of her jacket brought up over her hair. She had her head on her knees and was, apparently, _crying_. That couldn't be, though – he'd never seen the girl cry, not even after the robbery!

"Roni?"

The girl stilled, then hastily wiped at her face with her sleeves and looked up at him. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and her cheeks were a bit blotchy. She sniffed again, and the defensive look in her eyes told Mike not to call her out on the tears. Instead, he gave her a relieved smile.

"I'm glad you're alright." He shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, his shoulders sore from being pulled behind his back. "Are your hands free?"

"Yeah," Roni crawled across the floor, quickly closing the space between them, and motioned for him to turn around. "The rope they used to tie me up were all rotten – it was easy to get out of them." She tugged at the wires, untangling them and then attacking the knot. "Stop wiggling – I've almost got it. Aha!" The guard pulled the wires away and held them up for Mike to see. The officer rubbed at his sore wrists, nodding to her.

"Thanks. So, where are we?"

"The attic, I think." Roni pointed to the window. "We're on the second story."

Mike got to his feet, rolling his shoulders, and crossed to the window. He wiped off a spot (which he bemusedly noticed was several inches higher than the spot Roni had cleaned) and looked out. They were on the second story – he could see the pavement far down below, and the stanchions that marked the line for the Fazbear's Fright entrance. The park was silent and empty, eerily so.

"How long were we out?"

"No more than half-an-hour." Roni pulled out her cellphone, and to his surprise, Mike was able to pull out his as well.

"Have you called the police?" he asked, turning his on.

Roni wiggled her phone at him. "No bars. Like, zero, none at all. Not even the little one. I'm thinking there's either a cell jammer somewhere up here, or Geary and his friends are keeping us from calling for help." She stuck the phone back into her pocket. "Basically, we have really expensive pocket-watches."

Mike snorted and triple-checked his phone over. She was right – no bars, no ability to make calls or send texts. "So, we're on our own. Hm, it's almost ten-thirty."

Roni went back over to the window and peeked out at the empty amusement park. "Am I the only one getting really tired of all this paranormal shit?"

Mike snorted and joined her by the window. "No. And it'll probably get a whole lot worse before it gets better."

The two stood in silence for a bit, contemplating just _how_ things could get worse.

"Hey, look!" Roni squashed her nose against the window as she looked out at the nearest attraction – a roller coaster called the 'Gut-Buster.'

"What?" Mike, being a tall man, was able to easily lean over her head and peer out of the dusty glass.

"I think I saw someone down there, over by the roller coaster! See, in the shadows there..." She banged a fist against the glass. "HEY! HEY YOU! UP HERE! WE NE-mphphmm!"

"Stop it," Mike pulled her away from the window, one hand clapped over her mouth. "Even if there _were_ somebody out there, we don't want to get them roped into this mess."

Roni frowned up at him once she was released. "Why not? They could help."

"No, they could _die_." Mike sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "Look, Springtr – I mean Geary is working for someone else, someone who apparently knows who we are and wants to see us. If we rope another person into this, they most likely would end up dead."

The guard bit her thumbnail and thought over his argument. "You're right," she muttered, "I guess we're on our own tonight."

"Come now, there's no need to sound so _disappointed_." A hatch in the floor on the other side of the large attic space swung upwards, allowing the silky British voice to fill the attic space. A shadow floated after it, snapping his fingers to turn on the dusty bulbs overhead. Roni and Mike both blinked in the light, and as soon as their eyes adjusted they turned to look at their current captor.

"You?" Roni stared at the bear in shock.

Shadow Freddy smirked, his nose wrinkling up as he did so. The shadows, not being restrained to costumes, could manipulate their appearance more than the animatronics did. She often found it fascinating, but at the moment Roni didn't bother to notice it.

"Why?" The guard's shoulders slumped, and she gave him a defeated look. "Why are you helping Spr – I mean Geary? I thought we were friends!"

"Friends? You humans are so sentimental. We aren't _friends,_ Night Guard. We aren't chums, or buddies, or mates. The fact that you spend nine hours a night in the same building as me does not make us bosom-buddies." The bear casually began to examine his claws, finding them much more interesting than the distressed girl before him.

"But...but what about Shab?" Roni asked, and almost smirked when he stiffened. "Shab and I are friends – we're _best friends_. What will he do when he finds out you helped kill me and Mike?"

"Who says he's going to find out?" Shaf clenched his hand into a fist, annoyed by her perception. "And even if he did, why would he care? Friends come and go – he'll be off chasing butterflies not five minutes later."

A gold form shimmered into sight before Roni could shoot off a comeback. Golden Freddy, or Fredbear as Mike had called him, smacked Shaf in the back of the head. "Stop gossiping and bring them downstairs," he demanded in his deep, staticky voice. Mike stepped in front of Roni, acting like a shield between her and the ghosts. He stood a little straighter with his spine curved and his chest puffed out a bit – his go-to pose for dealing with Toughs on the street. "Aw, look, Mikey wants to protect his little friend," Gold sneered.

"Too bad he can't protect himself." Shaf lunged at the police chief, but instead of attacking him, he just wrapped an arm around the mans bicep. They disappeared in a puff of black shadow. Roni gulped audibly as the shadows faded, leaving nothing between her and Fredbear. She took a step back as he took a step forward, keeping her eyes trained on his every move. Instead of coming after her, he simply stopped and stared, his dark eyes not showing nearly as much anger as interest. Roni felt like a really interesting, disgusting bug beneath his gaze.

"Come." To her everlasting surprise, Gold did not lay a hand on her. He simply walked over to the hatch in the floor and motioned for her to go down. When she didn't move, he scowled. "Either you go down this ladder yourself, or I will grab you by the throat and _throw_ you down."

Ah, there was the cranky, evil, murderous bear they all knew and loathed. Roni drew up every gram of courage she had left (her reserves were rather depleted at this point) and walked towards the bear. He didn't do anything as she peered through the square hole in the floor. A wooden fold-up ladder was hanging down, dangling in the middle of the office, of all places. Surprised, she carefully descended the ladder, half expecting Gold to make it vanish so she would fall and break her neck. Instead, as soon as she was safely on the moldy tile, he teleported to stand beside her. Without a touch, the ladder folded back up and the hatch swung shut - it was covered with a thin sheet of metal, making it indistinguishable from the rest of the ceiling. Impressed despite herself, Roni looked around the office. It was still a mess, the contents of the cardboard box strewn everywhere.

Gold wrapped his large paw around Roni's bicep and led her from the room. He once again surprised her; the grip wasn't tight enough to hurt, just firm enough to let her know that she wouldn't be getting free. Confused but not about to fight, Roni allowed him to lead her into the maze of hallways. They entered the one farthest to the right of the office, if she was remembering the map correct, and found Shaf waiting there with Mike, who was fuming. Apparently the two had gotten into a less-than-gentlemanly argument.

"Well, _finally_!" Shaf sneered at Gold as the two arrived. Roni, still feeling betrayed, refused to meet his gaze. "Feeling a bit stung, my dear? A bit betrayed?" He smiled sweetly, his voice dripping with honey now. "Good."

"Shut up, you incessant windbag." Gold swept past the indignantly squawking shadow to a spot on the wall that had a faded and torn poster of Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie. He placed his paw on a spot just below Poster-Freddy's bow tie and pressed down on it. There was a quiet 'click' and then a large slab of the drywall creaked open and swung in.

Mike scooted away from the insulted Shaf, but stayed close enough to examine the hidden doorway. Roni stayed close to him. With the back exit locked, and the two angry bears blocking the way to the front, there wasn't a real chance for either of them to escape. Meanwhile, Gold had gotten his fill of Shaf's insistence that he was _not_ a windbag, thank you very much, you 'stupid hob-knocker' and decided to focus on the humans, who were much quieter and easier to scare. He grabbed Mike by the collar and shoved him into the room. Roni put her hands up and followed him, edging around the old bear to avoid touching him.

The safe room was brightly lit, unlike the rest of the attraction (which really lived up to it's reputation of being 'old' and 'decrepit'), and appeared comfortable. It looked like it was meant to be used as a break room for the workers – there were two couches, a round table with chairs, a mini-fridge and a counter with a microwave and small sink. A small flat-screen TV was mounted on one wall, while bright vintage Fazbear posters protected by glass frames were hung on the rest. A bowl on top of the mini-fridge was filled with little bags of chips, beside a jar that encouraged the workers to donate some change so the snacks could keep coming. There was a tiny bookshelf beneath the TV with a few magazines and some cheap books thrown in it.

Roni gave the room a slack-jawed once over, marveling at the obvious comfort the owner was going for. She supposed that if she had to work at a horror attraction all day, she would want to have a comfortable place to retreat to during her break. It was much better than the office here, as well as her office at the restaurant! She'd have to shoot Jon some ideas for her office's remodel.

Mike was less impressed by the office, for a good reason: all his focus was on the large man standing in the middle of the room, behind whom hovered Springtrap. The man was tall and heavy around the middle, wearing a monogrammed button-up shirt and expensive slacks. His face was lined with wrinkles, and his eyes were a bit cloudy but still brown in color. He had a bristling silver mustache above his lip, a bushy beard that was neatly trimmed around his chin, as well as a head of equally shiny hair (though Mike couldn't tell if it was a toupee or not). The officer didn't like it – the man looked far too self assured, has Springtrap working as a wing-man or bodyguard, and for some reason, Mike felt as though he knew him. That didn't make sense though – the man had to have been in his sixties, at least.

His senses were put on high alert when the man smiled broadly and took a step forward. He clapped one hand on Mike's shoulder and grabbed his right hand in a firm shake. "I'm so glad to finally meet you, Police Chief Schmidt!" The man shook his hand vigorously for a moment, then dropped it. "I've heard a lot about you, all good of course!" He let out a bellowing laugh that shook his gut, and Mike was alarmingly reminded of a demented Santa Clause. The man released Mike and gently shunted him aside to repeat the process. "And you must be the lovely Roni Byrd. I'm so happy to meet you at long last. I read about how you foiled that robbery at your job – it was very brave. I'm certain your _boss_ was very proud."

He released Roni and motioned them both towards one of the couches. "Please, please, come in and sit! You must be exhausted – it's almost eleven, after all. I told Springtrap not to scare you, but you know how hard it is to get an animatronic to listen, I bet. You've both _befriended_ the animatronics at Fazbear's Pizzeria, right?" He pulled one of the chairs from the table and sat on it, placing one ankle on top of the knee and leaning back. Roni and Mike both hesitantly took their places on the couch, the girl making sure their thighs were touching, keeping her grounded. Mike subtly patted her leg as he got comfortable. Gold had entered the room and stood beside Springtrap, so they were flanking the man on both sides, cutting an intimidating figure.

When the man didn't say anything more, Roni spoke up. "Er, excuse me, sir, but _who_ are you, exactly?"

The man had barely opened his mouth to answer when Shaf screamed from the hallway. Instead of running in like a normal shadow-thingy, he was thrown in, colliding with Gold, who in turn crashed into Springtrap, creating a domino effect that sent all three to the floor. The man jumped to his feet in alarm, staring at his three downed henchmen. In the doorway, a tall, willowy figured stepped into sight, taking up the entire space and cutting an intimidating figure.

"Hello, _dad_." Marionette growled, glaring at the man. Behind Mari, Jon peered into the room, his face growing pale. He mouthed a word a few times, before finally putting his voice with it.

"Father?"

Roni, still on the couch, leaned closer to Mike and whispered, "Did we just land in a soap opera?" The man did his best not to snort in amusement. For the moment, both were content to sit and watch the drama unfold before them, seeing as they both had no clue as to what was going on.

"Hello, _son_." The word was spoken with a cliched amount of anger and distaste. The man brushed himself off, trying to regain his controlled appearance from before. Shaf quickly _poofed_ off of the other two animatronics and floated behind the man, watching the events with an odd amount of glee. Gold was quickly on his feet as well, unbalanced and slightly cross-eyed. Springtrap followed, hopping up quickly in order to hiss several unpleasant things at Shaf.

Mari, meanwhile, took one step into the room and stood beside the door, allowing Jon the opportunity to stare in shock at his father unimpeded.. After a second, Jon took a hesitant step towards his father, looking the man up and down. Now that they were standing across from each other, Mike could see the resemblance – both had bristly mustaches, large noses, and brown eyes. Fazbear senior had a beard and was much larger around the waist, while Jon was a bit taller and, while stocky, far from fat. Mari, who had also called Fazbear senior 'dad' was skinnier than both, lacked eyes or a mustache, and was giving the man a glare that could kill.

"How did you get out?" Jon finally asked after several tense minutes of the two sizing each other up.

"I pretended I was cured," Jonathan Fazbear, Sr. smirked at his son. "You'd be surprised how quickly a doctor will give you a clean bill of health when you stop talking about killer robots possessed by small children."

At his sides, Jon's hands curled into fists. "You were never supposed to be released. They were supposed to call me before anything changed."

"They did call, and as far they know, they did speak with you." John motioned to the shadow floating beside him. "Shaf has an _excellent_ talent for impressions."

The bear obligingly began to speak, his voice echoing the younger Fazbears perfectly. "You've cured him doctor? Are you sure? That's a miracle! Oh no, I can't pick him up myself, I'm swamped at the restaurant, we're understaffed you know, but I'll arrange pick-up and take care of everything. I'll be _so happy_ to see you again. Thank you doctor! Ta-ta!"

"I have _never_ said 'ta-ta' in my life." Jon said sourly, glaring at the bear, who merely smirked in return with his bright-white teeth, happy to have caused some chaos. "It doesn't matter now, anyway. I'll be taking you back to the institution, _personally_."

"No, you won't." John waved off the words as though they were an annoying, buzzing gnat. "You see son, there's been a slight shift in power now. You have The Puppet, there," he motioned to Mari, a curious look in his eyes, "though I don't know how he's standing without an endoskeleton." He squinted at the tall, possessed puppet, but shrugged it off. "And, of course, your two little sidekicks here," he waved at the couch, where Mike and Roni were watching the debate like it was a heated tennis match. "That gives you one animatronic ally, and two easily-subdued humans on your side. While on my side, I have," he waved his hand at Shaf, Gold, and Springtrap, "these three."

"Now," he righted the chair Shaf had knocked over, dusted it off, and took a seat, his three sycophants flanking him dutifully. "If a scuffle _were_ to break out, who do you think would win, hm?" He scratched at his beard, trying to appear confident and unconcerned about the four glares being shot his way. "You've got nothing. A sad handful of friends, that's all."

"How is that any worse than you?" Jon immediately shot back, while beside him Mari bristled, his shadows flaring. Roni noted that it made him look more like a furious, hissing cat than a real threat, but wisely decided now was not the time to share her observations. "You've got a bunch of lackeys and yes men. At least these guys," he motioned to Mari and the pair on the couch, "are my friends. You're just a sad old man with crazy delusions and a lonely future."

"They're _not_ delusions," John hissed. "You're _standing_ beside one of those killer robots right now!" He motioned to Mari. "You know the others – you know just as well as I do that they're sentient _monsters_."

"They are not!" Roni stood up, hands on her hips, and glared at him. "Freddy and Chica and Bonnie and Foxy are great! They're kind and friendly and they love entertaining the kids." She defended her friends. "And Teddy, Blue, Chichi, and Mangle are just as great. Mari and Shab are brilliant too! They're not monsters, not at all. They're my family, and I love them!"

John stared at her, his mind slowly processing the girls statement. Beside the door, Mari's angry demeanor momentarily lightened, and he reminded himself to share this story with the others when they got home. His ferocious demeanor returned when John began to smirk, a small chuckle passing his lips.

"You really don't know anything, do you, brat?" He asked casually. "Didn't anybody ever tell you about the _Missing Children_ incident?" She nodded and he leaned forward, a viscous gleam in his eyes. "Did you ever wonder _where_ the bodies went?"

"They were never found," Roni immediately replied.

"Right," he nodded, "Because Geary here," he thumbed at the rabbit over his shoulder, "hid the bodies. _In the animatronics_."

Roni and Mike stared at the man, the former going rather pale and the thought. She was glad she hadn't eaten more than a sandwich earlier, otherwise she would have been sick at the very thought. Mike wasn't doing much better. At the door, Jon and Mari shared an uncertain look, then Jon stepped farther into the room.

"Boss," Geary was the one to speak. He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side, his dim green eyes lost in thought. His degraded lids drooped down, showing his confusion. "I never stuffed the kids in the suits."

"Yes you did," John snapped, jumping to his feet and rounding on the bunny. "How else would they have gotten there?"

Jon stepped closer to his father. "Dad," he rested a hand on his fathers shoulder, making the older man jump, "Don't you remember?"

"Remember _what_?" John shrugged off his sons hand and growled at him, teeth barred. Springtrap and Gold both took steps back, away from the seething man, while Shaf moved to stand beside the couch where Roni and Mike sat. Roni was about to snap at the shadow to move, but then she saw something odd in his pinprick eyes: uncertainty. Jon put both his hands on his fathers shoulders, forcing the man to look him in the eyes.

" _You're_ the one who hid the children in the suits."

* * *

 **AN: I'm with Roni on this one, it has gotten a little soap-drama-ish, but Mr. Jonathan Fazbear, Sr. plays an important part in Springtrap/Geary's story. I hope I kept the humor vibe up enough in this chapter, despite the heavy stuff. Roni, like me, tends to notice the weirdest stuff at inappropriate times.**

 **And am I the only one who often imagines Puppet as being a sarcastic, easily-insulted cat? I can't be, can I?**

 **REVIEWS are LOVED and CUDDLED and SO SO SO APPRECIATED and INSPIRING and MOTIVATING! Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed before, I really, really appreciate it!**


	5. Blood On His Hands

**IMPORTANT: GORE ALERT. If you don't want to read the gore, read up until you want to stop, then skip down to the page break!**

 **Universal Language: Hieroglyphs**

 **Chapter 5: Blood on his Hands**

"What?"

"Dad, don't you remember?"

Jonathan Fazbear, Senior and Jonathan Fazbear, II stared at each other. The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. Behind the two Jonathan's, Geary and Fredbear had both moved away, staring at the two with confusion and no small amount of surprise. Shaf remained standing beside the couch where Roni and Mike were still sat, too stunned by the sudden turn of events to move. The bear was watching with uncertainty and confusion, his expression the same as his cohorts.

Mari was the only one who didn't seem surprised by this development. He stood by the door, his shadows wriggling around him in anxiety as he watched the scene unfold. Roni had, over the past few months of getting to know him, noticed that the puppets shadows were almost like a pet – he controlled them, most of the time. They also reflected his own emotions, even if he didn't want them to be seen, like an overly sensitive dog. Now, they portrayed his anxiety with the situation, probably because three of the six humans he knew and liked were possibly in danger.

"You're lying," John finally said, staring at his son with anger and betrayal in his eyes. "I would never have done that."

Jon took a step back, dropping his hands from their position on his fathers shoulders. "You did," he insisted, "I saw you do it."

"Then why didn't you _stop_ me?" John slammed his hand against the back of the chair he had been sitting in.

"I was _twelve_!" His son yelled, taking another step away from the seething man. "I was _twelve_ and _scared_ and you said that if I ever told anybody, the police would come and _kill you_ and stuff you into a _Freddy Fazbear Suit_ and I'd have to go live on the _streets_!"

Mike stood and went to stand beside his friend, resting a hand on the ranting man's shoulders. Roni automatically scooted farther down the couch, away from Shaf, until she was pressed against the arm of the couch. Unfortunately, Shaf took this as an invitation and took the seat where she had been sitting, his gaze on the fight between father and son.

"Are you starting to remember now?" Jon demanded, and Roni could swear she saw tears in his eyes. "Do you remember forcing me to help you? Do you remember the sounds, the smells? Do you remember _anything_ about that night?"

"No," John shook his head frantically. "No, I didn't do it and you can't prove that I did!"

Mari took that as his cue. He strode forward to stand beside Jon and leaned down, his abnormally long body making it easy for him to get right up in the mans face. "Do you _want_ to remember?" The puppet demanded, his voice dripping with venom.

"No, no, I don't!"

"Too bad." Jon and Mari said it at the same time, and suddenly all eight of them were in darkness. Roni and Shaf both fell to the floor as the couch disappeared beneath them. Shaf, ever the gentle-bear (even if he was a thick-headed prick who betrayed her for John's side) helped her up, his eyes floating eerily in the dark. In fact, the only thing any of them could see were the animatronics eyes. Gold quickly moved to stand beside Mari, hissing a demand to know just _what_ he thought he was _doing_. Geary moved towards Shaf, which made Roni stiffen and slowly sidle away towards where Mari's eyes were floating above the rest. She bumped into Mike, who grabbed her arm to keep her from wandering off.

"What's going on?" She asked, speaking in a whisper though in this odd darkness, it seemed like a shout.

"I don't know," Mike had his other hand on Jon's shoulder, refusing to lose the man in the darkness. "But I have a bad feeling. If we start seeing something you don't want to watch, just let me know and I'll protect you."

Roni snorted at that. "I don't need protecting," she muttered, though her hand taking his in a tight hold belayed her words.

A light began to grow from the darkness, though it didn't have a specific starting place. At least, not that they could tell. Springtrap and Shaf moved to stand beside Gold, who was seething but also appeared to be very worried. Mari stood beside them, his arms crossed, face blank of any emotion. Jon stood beside him, and beside Jon were Mike and Roni. John was nowhere in sight, oddly enough.. There was a sudden flash that blinded them all. Once it faded, seven of the eight looked around in shock.

They were in a dusty room with tiled floors and bland walls. A large table was in the center, upon which lay a partially-dismantled endoskeleton. There were shelves with spare animatronic parts piled up, and six animatronics were standing against the wall opposite them, all deactivated. The Spring Bonnie suit, at the end of the line farthest from the door, was splashed with red. For one crazy moment Roni thought it was pizza sauce. Then she saw that the red continued on to the floor, creating a path that went all the way to a low vent in the wall, which was partially hidden by some crates. She gulped and tightened her grip on Mike. He drew his arm out of her grasp and wrapped it around her shoulder instead, pulling her against his side.

There was a bitter scent in the air – dust and age, combined with a sharp copper that all the humans could easily identify: blood. Jon moved to follow the blood trail, but Mari put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him with a shake of his head and pulling him back into the line.

"This will not be good." Roni nearly jumped out of her skin as Gold appeared beside her, standing instead of floating. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes were glaring straight forward, taking in every detail of the room. They brushed over the other Golden Freddy suit, which unlike the other animatronics was slumped down in the line. The guard figured that the endoskeleton being worked on must belong to him. Gold finally turned his head to look down at her and Mike, and for the second time that night Roni noticed something off about his expression. His eyes almost appeared to hold worry and apprehension, instead of the usual out-right malice whenever they happened upon each other in the store. After the robbery and upon gaining Mari's support (and protection), the gold suit had stopped trying to kill her. Instead he settled for sulking, shooting her glares and, when he could get away with it, making random visions pop up in her sight, sometimes scaring her but mostly just temporarily annoying. Most of the time, though, he was in the basement with Shaf or Shab, doing who-knows-what. Maybe he was beginning to – well, not like her, but hate her less? That could explain the weird looks lately. Or maybe Mari had threatened him again. Honestly, as long as he wasn't trying to shove her into a Bonnie suit, Roni wasn't going to complain about the change in demeanor.

Just as Roni began to ask just what, exactly, 'wasn't good,' the door beside Mari and Shaf banged open, and a much younger version of John stomped in.

"Peter, have you seen Alex? He's been acting weird today and I want to...to ask him..."

The younger man stopped his demands as the smell of copper hit his nose. He immediately clapped a hand over his mouth, gagging in repulsion. "Ugh, what the hell? Did the engineer slice open his hand again?" Memory-John reached out for the light switch and hit it. To Roni and Mike's surprise, the room brightened considerably – apparently, despite their ability to see in it, the memory man had been in pitch blackness. "Now what the hell is that...that..."

He was struck dumb once more, his eyes have casually swept over the animatronics before focusing in on Spring Bonnie. "The hell?" He muttered again, taking a few steps around the table so he could properly see the rabbit. His face had begun to pale "Oh no, oh no no no, somebody couldn't have, could they? The spring-locks are broken, it's impossible that somebody got into the suit. If they did, then they'd – oh god, please tell me someone isn't in the suit!"

Memory-John approached it slowly, his movements stiff. He hesitantly reached out and poked at Spring Bonnie's head. When it didn't move, he carefully pulled it off. There was nobody inside. The man almost cried in relief – his invisible audience could see it in his eyes. "Oh thank god, thank you thank you," he put the head back on. "But then where did all this blood come from?" He looked the suit up and down, then saw what Roni and Mike had: the trail leading to the vent in the wall. John followed it without pause, his nose wrinkling as the smell of blood became stronger. "Did someone kill a opossum or something and hide it in here?"

He shoved the boxes away from the wall and groaned when he saw the vent. "I swear, if Alex put another chicken in here to scare me, I'll put him on kitchen duty for the rest of the month!" The vent was loose – the screws were only slightly pushed in, not secured. He wrapped his fingers around the silver grate and yanked it out of the wall.

Roni uttered a small scream as a child covered in blood flopped out of the vent, her long blonde hair dripping red. Mike pulled the guard closer, looking on with an unstintingly blank face. He'd seen plenty of death in his time as a beat cop, a detective, and as police chief; he'd found long ago that compartmentalizing, while not the 'best' option according to his therapist, helped a whole hell of a lot. So as Memory-John stumbled back from the vent, gagging on his stomach contents, Mike shut away his emotions.

Mari and Jon were also emotionless – they'd both been through this once before, and had made their peace with it. Not to say that it was pleasant to watch, but they knew what to expect and what would happen next. It was upsetting, but familiar. Gold was watching it all with a cold, smoldering anger, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. Shaf, who had taken to floating for a better view of the happenings, looked as shocked as Roni. Geary, who stood between Shaf and Gold, tried to turn around and escape the sight, but Gold's hand clamped down on his shoulder and forced him to watch.

Memory-John got his breath back and, to Roni's shock, began to pull the girl from the vent. Her hair flopped off her head – she'd nearly been scalped. Once he had her lying on the ground, he checked for a pulse, and finding none bent his head. Tears dripped down his cheek as he looked down at the body, his shoulders shaking. The girl stared blankly at the ceiling – she couldn't have been more than five or six. Memory-John tenderly slid her eyelids shut, then glanced back at the vent. He squinted, then moved back to it and pulled another body out.

This one was a Latino boy with a mess of black hair and paint spotting his shirt. His clothes were all ripped apart, as was his body. The boys blood had stained his shirt so badly, they couldn't tell what color it was originally. Memory-John checked for a pulse, then pulled the boy to rest beside the girl. He closed the boys eyes, looking queasy, and then went back to the vent. He reached inside, and paled even more as his hands touched another still foot. A boy wearing overalls and marker stains on his hands was removed, his head nearly rolling from his body – Geary had cut straight through to the vertebrate, nearly beheading him. The head flopped back and forth and Memory-John released him, ran to the corner, and was violently sick.

Roni looked away from the three bodies, feeling bile rising in her own throat. Mike rubbed her back and leaned down, whispering softly that it was just a memory, that the children were at peace and that everything was going to be okay. After a few minutes, she was able to look up again, only to see Memory-John pulling a fourth body from the vent. This one was an African-American girl in a bright yellow sundress, parts of which were turning orange. Her curly hair was tied up in pigtails, and the skin on her cheeks had been flayed away. Memory-John, who was now pale and sweaty and wobbly on his feet, reached into the vent one more time. The last body was pulled forth – a lanky boy with a red ponytail and freckles all over his face, nose, forehead, and shoulders. His throat had been sliced, allowing him to methodically bleed out, while his torso was stabbed at least a dozen times. Memory-John laid him beside the others. All five kids were laying in a line now, their eyes shut, play clothes stained with blood. Memory-John shakily sat down before them, with all the markers of shock.

"I've got to call the police," he hid his face in his hands. "They thought the kids were taken away, but they were here all along..." The man chocked back a sob and sat there in silence for several minutes.

Geary moved forward, shrugging off Gold and Shaf's hands. He rounded the table and approached the children, standing beside Memory-John and staring down at the children.

"Why did you do it?" Roni asked, her voice rough. She wiped at the tears sneaking down her cheeks. "Why did you kill them?"

Springtrap stared at the nearly-scalped girl, then moved his gaze to the redhead. "I don't know," he muttered after a few minutes. He crouched down and reached out to brush the back of his costumed hand along the African-American girls destroyed cheek. His hand went straight through her – since this was just a memory, they couldn't touch anything. "I don't remember why..."

Gold snorted something that sounded sarcastic and insulting, but Roni ignored him, distracted by something moving in the vacated vent. She grasped Mike's hand and pointed to it. They watched in shock as a small figure crawled out, looking confused and scared. It was the Latino boy, with curly black hair and paint on his shirt. He looked around the room, his eyes lingering on the animatronics for a moment, before moving the man sitting on the floor with his back to him. Curious, he moved forward and reached out the poke the mans shoulder.

"Mister? Do you know where we are?" He asked, then gasped and jerked his hand back as it went straight through the mans shoulder. Beside him, Geary moved away, back to stand with Gold and Shaf, looking pained as another ghost appeared from the vent. The red-head boy this time, who was looking at the blood smeared around the vent with worry and, deep in his eyes, knowing. Once he was out of the vent, he reached back inside and pulled the little African-American girl out, helping her land on her feet. She bounced on her heels and looked around, an uncertain smile on her face. The overalls boy emerged next. He scowled around the room, apparently scouting for danger, before allowing the blonde girl to join them.

The five ghosts were whole, unblemished, unlike their ravaged bodies on the ground. The overall boy and the blonde girl were obviously twins – they were young enough that their faces still looked alike. The girl in the sundress was clinging to the red-head, who was the tallest and most likely the oldest out of them all. He picked her up, settling her on his hip, making it apparent that he had some kind of experience with younger kids – a younger sibling or babysitting job, perhaps.

"Why can't he hear me?" The Latino boy had taken a step back from Memory-John, looking panicked. "Why can't I touch him?" He poked Overalls-Boy in the shoulder. "I can touch you, why not him?"

Red-Head Boy was staring past John, pale beneath his freckles as he observed their bodies. He made sure to turn so that Sundress-Girl couldn't see the lineup of corpses. "Look," he shifted Sundress-Girl on his hip so he could point to the animatronics on the other side of the room. "There's Freddy and his friends! Let's go take a look." Overalls-Boy and his sister quickly agreed and ran to inspect the costumes. Red-Head Boy set down the girl and gave her a little push, shooing her after them. Black-Hair Boy, however, had finally gotten a good look at the line of corpses on the ground.

"Are we...are we...that's us, isn't it?" He asked, looking up at the older boy. "We're...are we dead?"

Red-Head rubbed at the back of his head, unsure how to answer. "I think so," he muttered, turning his eyes away from his destroyed body. Black-Hair boy began to sniffled, tears gathering in his eyes.

"I don't wanna be dead!"

Red-Head quickly gathered the younger child into his arms, soothing him gently, pulling him over to the nearest animatronic suit so that the table blocked their view of the bodies.

"What's wrong?" Sundress pulled on Red-Head's sleeve.

"He's just a little sad, is all."

 _I'm sorry_.

Red-Head's hair whipped around his face as he jerked upwards, looking around in a panic. The other children had heard the voice as well, though they were much calmer about trying to find the source.

 _I'm sorry I couldn't stop him_.

Sundress saw him first – a little boy with messy black hair and tear streaks down his face. His eyes were all black, with little white pupils instead of irises. He was floating a few inches above the floor, watching them all with a sad expression.

"Who are you?" Red-Head demanded, looking at the boy suspiciously.

"You can call me Mari," the boy allowed his feet to touch the floor and walked forward, running a hand through the blonde girls long hair.

"Mary? Isn't that a girls name?" Overalls asked, looking more curious than insulting.

"Sometimes," Mari laughed, wrapping an arm around the boys shoulder and giving him a squeeze. Red-Head kept Black-Hair on his hip as he looked at the boy, noting that he was ever-so-slightly see through, and that there seemed to be a black fog around him.

"You're dead too, huh?"

The younger three looked a bit alarmed at the idea, but they didn't seem old enough to have a firm grasp of the whole 'life/death' thing quite yet. Overalls was hugging his new friend, his sister was poking Bonnie's guitar but keeping an ear on the conversation, and Sundress was hugging Red-Head's leg, more curious than anything.

"For a while now, yeah," Mari confirmed. "Been about twenty years or so now," he muttered, scratching at his chin.

"Twenty years?" Black-Hair yelped, looking panicked. He was the second oldest – nine perhaps, maybe nine-and-a-half. "I don't wanna stay here twenty years! I wanna go home!"

"You can, you can," Mari soothed, rubbing circles on the boys back. "I stayed because I needed to, but you can go whenever you'd like." He smiled at the boy. "A bright light will appear, and you just have to move towards it, that's all, and you'll move on."

"That's all?" Red-Head asked skeptically.

"Yep! That's all you need." Mari reassured him. Before more could be said, Memory-John yelled something.

"NO! I can't call the police. Nobody can know about this."

Mari twitched and spun on his heel. To all five children's surprise, he launched himself across the work table and came to a stop, floating over the bodies and the owner.

Memory-John had his hands tangled in his hair. He was staring down at the bodies, sweat dripping down his back, tears clinging to his cheeks yet. "They can't no. Nobody can know. It would ruin me!" He began to bite down on a few of his fingers. "And Laura and Johnny would be terrified as well. We'd all end up in the poorhouse! What do I do? What do I do?"

The man began to look around the room, frantically trying to find a place to hide the evidence. After a few sweeps, his eyes landed on the animatronics. He stiffened, then glanced back at the bodies. "They're small...they'll fit..." He whispered to himself, before drunkenly getting to his feet. Red-Head and Mari herded the younger kids away from the costumes as Memory-John rounded the table. He grabbed the nearest animatronic – Bonnie – and yanked him forward. "They already had maintenance...it's only for a few days, nobody will notice...nobody will think..."

He dragged the Freddy Fazbear suit so it was beside the table, then looked back at the kids. Grimacing, he leaned down and grabbed Overalls. The boys head flopped back, nearly separating from his body. Memory-John gulped, then carried the boy to the table and set him down there. He took a screwdriver from the toolbox resting on the table and turned to Freddy. The animatronic was offline, standing still before him. The man quickly removed the bears front, revealing the large hollow space in his middle. There was a rod wrapped in wires that held up the suit, creating the 'spine', but otherwise it was empty. John looked at the space, then the boy, then back to the space. Cringing, he picked up Overalls and pressed him into the hole.

Roni gagged as the boys head flopped aside, and several of the child's bones cracked as he was forced into the space. Blood immediately began to dribble from the child's new wounds as gravity went to work, staining Freddy's fur a deep, ugly red. Mike pressed Roni against his chest, shielding her eyes as Memory-John finished shoving the young boys body into place. He set to reattaching the front of the suit, cringing when even more bone-crunching could be heard as the boy was forced into his hiding spot.

In the far corner, Overalls was staring at the table in shock. "Why is he putting me in there?" He demanded of the older boys, not understanding what, exactly, was going on. "I don't want to be in there! I don't like Freddy!" He sniffled as Mari wrapped him up in a comforting hug. To the ghosts surprise, Overalls pushed him away and doubled over in pain, clutching his chest and groaning. "I don't feel good," he moaned, tears falling down his cheeks.

"Do you see a light?" Mari hugged him tightly, wiping the tears from the boys face. Overalls looked up, and to everyone's surprise his eyes had grown dark, with white pinpricks.

"It's dark," the boy whispered, and Mari began to panic as the boys body faded in his hands. "I don't like it here."

"FINN!" The blonde girl burst into tears, sobbing as the boy disappeared. Mari's eyes shot to the Freddy suit, which Memory-John was pushing back into place against the wall. He squinted, and could see just the faintest outline of black around the suit. The puppet swore as the man tugged the Bonnie suit over to the work table.

The Latino boy was the next to be placed in a suit. He clung to Red-Head and Mari as the man picked up his body and put him in the suit. "I'm scared," he whispered, holding onto Red-Head tightly.

"It's okay," Red-Head whispered, "I'll protect you, no matter what happens."

"Do you see a light yet?" Mari asked, panic evident in every syllable.

"No," the boy rubbed his eyes, and when he blinked them clear, they had turned black. "It's dark."

He faded, just as Finn had, and Red-Head looked to Mari in alarm. "What is happening? Why can't we move on?"

"I don't know!" Mari hugged Sundress, who had begun to cry. "Shh, it'll be okay, everything will be alright," he reassured her.

As though he had summoned a miracle, the door to the backroom was thrown open and a twelve-year-old Johnny bounced in. He had short brown hair, large bright eyes and a smile that filled his whole face. "Da-ad!" He called as he skipped in, looking around, "Everyone else is gone, it's time to...time...dad?" Memory-Jon stared at his blood-covered father in shock. He looked at the three bodies on the floor, then at the blood-stained Bonnie that his father was pushing back into place along the wall. "Dad? What's going on?"

"I need your help, Johnny." John turned to look at his son, eyes growing cold.

"We need to call the police!" Johnny rushed to inspect the three kids. "They're really, _really_ hurt!"

"They're dead," John corrected immediately. Beside Mike, Jon had gone pale and was watching through dead, emotionless eyes.

" _Dead?"_ Johnny gasped, then turned as though to run out of the room to the nearest phone. His father grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"NO! We are not calling the police!"

"But we _have_ to!"

Mike and Roni both flinched as Johnny was backhanded harshly by his father.

"No, we don't. Do you know what will happen if you call the police, Johnny?" John demanded, grabbing his son by the front of his shirt and shaking him. "You'll _destroy_ our family! The police will come and think that _I_ did this, and they'll thr-" the man paused, then his eyes darkened. "The police will kill me, Jonathan. They'll kill me and it will be _your_ fault. They'll laugh as they shoot me, then they'll put me in a Freddy Suit and make me perform forever!" The young boy had gone pale, but John wasn't done yet. "You're mother will _hate_ you for it. She'll _never forgive you_. You'll end up living on the street, sleeping in the cold, with _nobody_ who _loves you!"_

The boy was crying now, tears streaming down his face. John dropped him, and the boy stumbled but caught himself before he could fall. "We have to hide these kids so the police won't find them," he ordered.

"But...dead people are _buried_..." Johnny whispered.

"We can't bury them," John took a deep breath, reining in his panic. "Johnny, listen, we're going to put them in the costumes, okay? That way the Fazbear gang will be able to look after them."

Johnny was twelve – he'd long learned that the Fazbear gang was just wire, metal, and fancy costumes. At the moment, however, he wasn't willing to argue with his father. As John pulled over the Chica suit, he slowly approached the children. Tears filled his eyes as he looked down at the three still bodies. He knelt down and rested a hand on the African-American girls forehead. He sniffed, ignoring his father as he pulled off the front of Chica's body. He didn't move until the girl was yanked out from beneath his fingers. His head snapped up, and he stared as his father set the girl on the work table and began to figure out how best to stuff her into the suit.

"Johnny," his father glanced over at him with odd, flat eyes. "Get a bucket of hot water and the bleach from the supply cabinet. Some rags too. Start cleaning the blood off the floor," he glanced away, "but not the suits. The bleach will ruin them."

Without a word, the boy left. By the time he returned, hauling a bucket that was sloshing with bleached water, the girl had disappeared and the Chica suit was back against the wall, dripping with sluggish blood. Unseen by the two Jonathan's, Red-Head was hugging Blonde tightly, whispering meaningless phrases in her ear. Mari had teleported straight over to the suits (startling the other two ghosts) and had begun to talk to them, whispering furiously. Johnny began to wipe up the blood nearest the door as his father tugged Foxy into place by the table.

Red-Head groaned in pain as his body was shoved inside the fox. Blonde fussed over him, tears falling unchecked down her cheeks. Mari had come back to their side, and was running his hand through the boys hair and reassuring him that everything would be fine, that he would figure everything out. His eyes turned dark, and he disappeared. Blonde burst into loud sobs, and Mari wrapped her up in his arms, shushing her gently. John slammed the front piece of Foxy (the thinnest of the animatronics) into place, producing a sickening squelch and the cracking of several bones. The adult Jon groaned and looked away, tears clinging to his lashes. Mari wrapped a sympathetic arm around the man, talking him quietly.

His younger self slowly wiped up the blood on the floor, eventually coming to stand beside the animatronics, which were leaking blood. Freddy was the closest. The young boy leaned forward and, quietly enough that his father couldn't hear, whispered to him. "Please, look after them. Make sure they're safe." He quickly went back to wiping up the floor when he felt his fathers eyes on his back.

John had dragged the last suit – the defunct Golden Freddy – over, deciding that Spring Bonnie already had enough blood on him. He picked up the last girl. In the far corner, Mari was hugging Blonde.

"Do you see the light?" He demanded, on the verge of panicking. The girl looked around, then stopped when her eyes met the doorway. The blue irises lit up with a sparkle, reflecting a light Mari had long ago denied.

"Yeah!" Blonde whispered.

"Go to it, quickly!" Mari gave her a little push towards her light. "Please!"

The girl took a step forward, then stopped. She glanced back over her shoulder, eyes lingering on the bleeding Freddy animatronic. John had taken off the front of Golden Freddy's suit, and had remembered that the endoskeleton was on the table. "I'll just put him out of order for a few weeks," John mused aloud. He picked up the limp blonde, wincing as her scalp flopped away from her head, showing a white curve of bone.

"Go, now!" Mari hissed, eyes widening. Blonde's eyes lingered on where her brothers body was hidden. Slowly, she took a step away from her light.

"No," she whispered, stunning the older ghost. "Not without my brother!"

"Please, you don't unde-" Mari's argument was cut off as the girl doubled over in pain. He grabbed her in his arms, and to his alarm he couldn't see the light reflected in her eyes anymore. "You have to go!"

"Not without FINN!" She screamed, eyes turning black, white pupils dancing in fury. As John slid Golden Freddy's chest back in place, Blonde disappeared, leaving Mari holding nothing.

Golden Freddy was quickly pushed back into place alongside the others. John retrieved some special fabric cleaner from one of the shelves and began to clean off the animatronics. Johnny worked silently beside him, pale and trembling as he wiped up the dead kids blood.

Puppet-Mari released Mike and straightened up. With a gentle wave of his hand, the world went dark once more...

* * *

...before righting itself. John had re-appeared, as pale as a sheet of paper and dripping with sweat. Mike and Jon were distracted from him (quite easily, as neither wanted to look at the other human) when Roni gave a small squeaky retch and collapsed.

"Shit!" Mike caught her easily, keeping her upright. To his surprise, Gold quickly swept her up in his arms. He moved to the couch and laid her down, despite her panicked protests that she was _fine, goddammit!_ Jon brushed past his father and found a bottle of water in the min-fridge. He handed it to the girl, who was being forcibly nurse-maided by Gold. Mike glanced at Mari in confusion, who merely shrugged in response, just as puzzled by the gold bears actions as the humans.

Shaf and Geary had both removed themselves from the group, standing by themselves as they thought over everything that had happened. Shaf had closed off his expression, while Geary looked rather upset.

Mari stayed beside Mike as they watched all this happen – Mari had lived through it, and Mike was sad to acknowledge that he was used to scenes like that – it was a hazard of the job. The puppet touched Mike's shoulder and shooed him towards the couch. Roni had finally fought her way into a sitting position and was sulking, sipping on the water Jon had provided while Gold tried to touch her forehead to take her temperature.

Once reasonably sure that Roni wasn't going to die on them, Jon turned to his father, who had yet to say anything. He moved to stand in front of the older man.

"Do you remember now?" He demanded. His father lifted his head, looking queasy, though there was a hardness in his eyes.

"Yes," he said shortly, "I remember. And I don't regret a damn thing."

* * *

 **AN: You guys have no idea how much fun it was to write this! Stephen King and Clive Barker are both my writing idols; it was fun to stretch my horror-writing muscles a bit. I had to stop and 'squee!' several times (and now my cats are mad at me for repeatedly scaring the crap outta them).**

 **REVIEWS please. I LOVE LOVE LOVE reviews! They're so INSPIRING and HELPFUL and FUN!**


	6. No Regrets v All The Regrets

**Universal Language: Hieroglyphs**

 **Chapter 6: No Regrets vs All The Regrets**

The room was dead silent. The only sound was the soft breathing of the three humans, and the creaking of Springtrap's gears as he shifted his weight. No one was quite sure of what to say, or how to react, to John Fazbear's declaration.

"You don't...you don't _regret_ it?"

To everyone's surprise, it was Geary who spoke. He was standing farthest from the man, his head cocked to the side as he watched the others. "You don't regret...trapping them?"

"Why do you even care, Geary? You're the one who killed them in the first place!" John sneered at the old animatronic.

The rabbit took a step towards the man, his eyes half-lidded in thought. "I'm beginning...to remember," he muttered, gaze far away. "I remember that I wanted to...I wanted to protect them...I wanted to free them from this world..." He dropped his head between his hands, looking pained. "The world...is a cruel place. A bad place. I wanted to save them...and I did." He dug his fingers into the rotting fabric of the costume head, creating deep dents in the form. "I did. I did a good thing. I saved them." He growled.

"You _saved_ them?" John let out a short, harsh bark of a laugh. "You almost _destroyed_ everything I had ever worked for!" He stomped towards the rabbit, ignoring the height difference as he yelled at the possessed bot. "You killed those children in cold blood! If the cops had ever found out, the Fazbear restaurant would have died then and there! Thank god they were too stupid to properly look..."

Mike bristled, but Roni grabbed his arm and shook her head before he could shout and disrupt the tense stand off.

"I sent them on! I sent them to Heaven, to be safe and cared for and loved!" Geary was shouting now, his dull green eyes flashing. "I saved them and saved them and it hurt them and it hurt _me_ but it was _worth it_ because they were special and didn't deserve to be destroyed by the world!" He pulled his hands from his head, ignoring the flaking foam and fiber that fell from his fingers, and pointed at John. "But you ruined it! You trapped them...you trapped them forever...I don't...how could...you ruined it..." His voice trailed off at the end, soundings almost _sad_.

Over the course of his ramblings, something strange had begun to happen to the Spring Bonnie suit. It's limbs were twitching at the joints every few seconds, and a familiar black glow was gathering around the edges of the suit. Mari had grown tense and moved to stand defensively beside the couch, where the three humans and Gold were gathered.

"You're the reason...they came after me...You're the reason they...they hated...me...and wanted me to die..." Geary doubled over, gritting his teeth in anger. "You...you... _bastard_!"

It was like watching a piece of Velcro being torn apart – Springtrap reared up, backing away swiftly from a see-through Geary, who was doubled over in pain, tears gathered in his eyes. Peter Geary had been in his late thirties when he'd died, though anyone could have mistaken him for a twenty-something. He had blonde hair and green eyes that had once been bright, but were now dulled from years of isolation. He was in his bartenders uniform – a purple button-down shirt and black slacks, a rag tucked into his back pocket, a name badge declaring 'Pete' on his chest.

Springtrap, now free from the influence of the murderer, stumbled as he all at once awakened and regained control of his body. Gold teleported to his side and caught him as he flailed about, helping to steady him. Springtrap's eyes were now a vibrant green, and they peered around the room blearily in slight confusion and worry.

"Fredbear?" Springtrap's voice no longer had a dark, scratchy echo to it – he actually sounded rather young and, though Roni didn't want to admit it, _cute_. "Fred, I think something bad happened," the bunny muttered, rubbing at his forehead. He paused, then pulled his hand away and stared at it, then at the connected arm, and then down at his frame. "Goodness! What happened to me? My suit is ruined!" The animatronics knees, rusty from lack of maintenance, trembled beneath him.

"Spring, you need to sit down." Gold's voice was soft as he guided the old animatronic over to the couch. Roni, who was still sitting and nursing her water, didn't have time to move before the bunny was sat beside her. He was staring down at the holey, mildewed mess that was his suit in horror, unable to comprehend what had happened to his pristine gold costume.

Across the room, the ghost of Peter Geary stood up, the pain in his gut gone. He held out his arms and, much like his former body had, examined himself. He was slightly see-through, just like the children had been before they cornered him in the safe room. The man straightened his shirt, making sure it was tucked in all the way, then lifted his head to look at John.

The old man was sweating bullets and trembling from head to toe. He'd taken a step back when Geary had emerged, and now he was feeling rather weak in the knees as those dull green eyes narrowed on him.

"I am like this...because of you." Geary declared, shoulders drawn back as he faced the man. "You trapped the children...so they sought me out...and killed me. My _death_ is _your_ fault."

"No, no, it's not, you _killed_ them and that's why they wanted revenge, it had nothing to do with me!" John edged back, away from the ghost.

On the couch, Springtrap looked up at the sound of yelling, his one ear twitching in order to catch the sound better. "Trapped children?" He asked softly, looking at Gold.

"I'll explain later," the bear soothed, running a paw down the rabbits shoulder. They watched as the two men continued to yell, bouncing the blame back and forth. It took only a few minutes for John to reach the end of his already short and frayed tether.

"ENOUGH!" He roared, making the spectators jump. Even Geary took a step back. "Enough," he seethed, "Who did what doesn't matter. You," he pointed to the ghost, "would still be stuck rotting in that warehouse if it weren't for me. You _swore_ that if I took you with me, you would help me achieve my goals. Are you going to break your word?"

Geary hesitated, glancing over at Jon, Mike, and Roni. The two men, sensing that _something_ was about to happen, tensed up and glared at him. Roni remained sitting, clueless as to what exactly was coming next. "Why do you want them dead?"

The temperature in the room dropped at least twenty degrees as all eyes turned to John, showing clear signs of shock, betrayal, and confusion. Mari bristled, his shadows lashing anxiously around him, and shoved both Jon and Mike back to the couch. The police officer ended up landing on the couch on the free side of Springtrap, while the manager sat on the arm of the couch beside him. Both Mari and Gold moved in front of the couch, creating a barrier between John and his apparent targets.

"I didn't want them _all_ dead," John corrected, waving his hand dismissively at the couch. "I could care less about the guard or the cop. _Johnny_ is the only one I planned on getting rid of."

Jon went white as a sheet at that announcement. Mike had to push Springtrap into Roni and scoot over as the man slid off the armrest and on the couch proper. Roni went stiff as a board when the rabbit bumped into her, and scrunched up against her own armrest to give him more room. He didn't pay her any mind, though – he had left off looking over his destroyed suit to focus on the brewing fight.

"That's not a _why_ ," Geary pointed out.

John rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh, as though very put-out that none of them could figure out his apparently cunning plan. "If Johnny is dead, then _I_ will retain ownership of the Fazbear Company an-"

"You want to kill your son for _money_?!" Roni accused, stunned that any person could be so crass. The older man shot her an annoyed look at being interrupted.

"No," he answered shortly, "I want to kill my son so I can finally _destroy_ all those animatronics and that damned restaurant." The man took in a deep breath, his face twisted in anger and pain. "If I get rid of them then they'll stop haunting me. They'll leave me alone and I can _finally_ get some peace and quiet!"

"Dad," Jon pushed himself off the couch (despite Mike's protests) and approached the man slowly, "The visions will go away if you take your medicine, remember?" He spoke softly, as though he was addressing a frightened puppy instead of an insane man.

"NO! I'm _not_ crazy," John seethed, shoulders shaking. "Damn you! Damn you for putting me in that...that _nuthouse_! I should have shoved you in a suit when I hid those kids!" He was struggling to pull a breath now, panting as he spoke. "I never hurt _anybody_ but you _locked me away_ like I was some kind of _criminal_!"

"Are you KIDDING me?" Jon was beginning to grow angry now as well, his shoulders tense and drawn up. He looked as though one wrong word would set him off. "All you did was _drink_! You were barely ever sober. You were angry all the time, talking about voices and seeing ghosts and being stalked! You beat mom bloody more than once. If I wasn't so damn fast I'm sure you would have done the same to me!"

"I never did that," John protested.

Jon let out a harsh bray of laughter. "Yes, you did! You were so black-out drunk all the time I'm not surprised you can't remember. The day I turned eighteen and was able to send you to Juniper Hill was the best day of my life, and moms! You're lucky I didn't just turn you in to the cops for what you'd done!"

"I didn't do anything for them to worry about," John hissed.

"Oh yeah? I looked it up. Desecration of a corpse. Obstructing a police investigation. Tampering with evidence. Failing to report the finding of a body. All of those, times five! And that's not even getting into the fact that you had _corpses_ walking around a _restaurant_ where we serve _food_ as they _decomposed_!" Jon was yelling now at the top of his lungs, startling the others who knew him – Jon was always quiet, calm, and composed. This was a new side to him. "You would have been locked away for the rest of your life, but I didn't want to send you to jail! You may be a complete bastard, but you're my dad." His voice quieted at the admission. "I thought the doctors could help you," he grew stony, "but I was wrong."

The air in the room was beyond thick with tension – Mike and Roni felt like they were swimming in it. Mari and Gold were still standing in front of the couch, with Jon in-between them, doing their best to shield the humans from the elderly man. Geary had backed away from John, looking oddly ill. Shaf was floating away from them all, his head tilted to the side as he took in all the new information John and Jon were providing.

Quietly, slowly, trying not to draw any attention, Roni began to edge her cellphone from her pocket. Now that everyone was distracted, there was a chance that whatever supernatural cell blocker had been in place was gone now. She hit the power button and watched as the home screen popped up, revealing the time – 11:30 – and the call bars – none. The girl wrinkled her nose and slid it back in her pocket – there was no help coming from that quarter.

"Dad?"

Roni looked back up as Jon addressed his father. The elderly man was peering at something to the side, twitching sporadically as his eyes traced thin air.

"You're seeing them again, aren't you?" Jon held back a sigh as his father jumped and brought his attention back to the current predicament. John scowled at his son, crossing his arms over his chest.

Before the two could start arguing, Springtrap perked up and asked, "What are you seeing?" He looked between the wall and John, nothing but curiosity in his expression.

"The Phantoms." John grouched, gesturing to the wall.

"Phantoms?" Springtrap tilted his head to the side, squinting at the blank space. "What do they look like?"

John glared at the bunny, though there was some confusion in there as well, as though he was unable to believe that someone was taking him seriously. "Like the animatronics," he answered after a moments thought, "Only dirty and destroyed, like they'd sat in a fire for hours."

"Oh," Springtrap leaned back into the couch, looking nervous. "They sound scary."

Roni and Mike both gave the rabbit incredulous looks. Gold reached back and patted the rabbit on the head. While she had the chance, Roni leaned forward and locked eyes with Mike. She flicked her eyes to the door and back, then reached up and scratched at her chest, carefully making sure that her fingers fell in such a way that she was pointing to herself. She looked back to the door again, then dropped her hand so it brushed the top of her phone.

Mike, luckily, had seen enough silly spy movies to understand what she was hinting at. He worried his lip for a moment, before reaching up to scratch the back of his neck in order to hide a single nod. They both sat back, Springtrap between them, and waited for a distraction.

Luckily the dramatics between John, Jon, and Geary were far from over. "Dad, there's _nothing there_."

"Yes there is!" John motioned to the wall. "Mangle is right there, staring at us, waiting to _attack_." He took a step towards the wall, turning his back on them.

Roni lunged off the couch, making Springtrap jump and yelp in surprise, and dashed to the door. It was still hanging open from when Mari and Jon had arrived. There was an angry yell from behind her as she slammed the door behind her, hoping to slow down whoever came after her. With a sharp right turn, she headed for the entrance of the attraction.

In the break room, John was snarling angrily at her quick escape. "Fredbear! Shaf! Grab her before she calls the cops!" He pointed to the door, glaring at them furiously. "Bring her back," he lowered his voice, "even if she's a corpse." Shaf nodded and disappeared in a dark cloud, but Gold hesitated and glanced back at Springtrap. The bunny gave him a hesitant smile.

"I'll be okay, Fred! Mr. Fazbear asked you to do something, so you better do it before he gets mad." At the rabbits reassurance (as naive as it was), the bear nodded and transported away with his radio-static sound. Mari moved to follow them, but a taunting 'nah-ah-ah' from John stopped him.

"Marionette, are you really willing to leave these two in a room alone with Mr. Geary and me here?" He asked, wagging a finger at the stiff puppet. Mari hissed something _very_ uncomplimentary, but didn't move. "Now Jon, how about we finish this bit of family business?"

* * *

Locked.

Roni tugged on the front doors frantically, trying to pull them open through sheer willpower.

Locked. Locked. Locked.

She stumbled back and stared at the thick glass panes. The right door was covered with thick, new boards of wood that would be difficult to break. Roni knocked her knuckles against the left door, which had two separate panes of what had to be shatter-resistant Plexiglas – the kind that made bullets bounce back in fright. That didn't stop her from kicking at it several times, hoping to at least create a crack.

"Roni-"

"Scheiße!" The girl spun around, back slamming against the doors. Gold and Shaf had, unsurprisingly, caught up to her. Roni looked between the two, slowly sinking to the ground as her legs gave out. She'd been incredibly lucky tonight, so of course said luck would have to run out eventually, right when she was about to escape this hellish attraction.

"Scheiss?" Shaf quoted, raising a brow as he watched the girl slump, her head dropping in defeat as the two bears moved closer. Fredbear knelt in front of her, looking uncharacteristically worried. "Fredbear, what are you doing? Grab her and let's get back to the others."

A flat, angry glare from the golden bear shut the shadow up. He huffed and crossed his arms, looking away but watching from the corner of his eyes as Gold rested a paw on the guards head. She jerked her head from beneath his touch and glared up at him. After a second, her glare turned to shock.

"You...you have blue eyes!"

The bear's eyes were no longer just black holes in his costume. Bright blue lined the white pupils, making it look as though someone had put his eyes together backwards. Gold leaned back, and as soon as there was space between them, a new form shimmered into existence.

A little girl with long, blonde hair and bright blue eyes wearing a pink dress stood before Roni, looking at her feet and pressing her fingers together anxiously. The night guards jaw dropped as she recognized the form before her.

Blonde bit her bottom lip as she looked up at the older girl, her brows drawn up in anxiety. "Hi."

* * *

 **AN: Short chapter is SHORT. Sorry about that - I really had trouble with this one. Lots of dialogue and trying to juggle all those characters and varying emotions had me struggling a bit. But finally, the last new player has arrived: Blonde! She has a real name - you'll learn it soon enough.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think! I don't like this chapter as much as I'd hoped, and I'd love some input from my LOVELY, HANDSOME, INCREDIBLE, SUPER-AMAZING READERS! Y'all are amazing and I appreciate all the feedback I've recieved on this series. It's more than I ever imagined!**


	7. The Blonde Back-Up

**Universal Language: Hieroglyphs**

 **Chapter 7: The Blonde Back-Up**

Blonde grabbed the bottom of her skirt, rolling it between her fingers as she watched Roni. The night guard was speechless, her gaze locked on the ghost child before her. After a moment she lifted a hand and reached out, brushing her fingers against the child's cheek. The rosy flesh was as cold as ice and chilled her to the bones, but was still solid beneath her hand. She dropped her hand back to her lap, unable to take her eyes off the see-through girl.

" _You're_ the reason Golden Freddy's been trying to kill me!" She finally said in the least-tactful manner possible.

Blonde's bottom lip trembled, and she abruptly burst into tears. Fredbear was quick to gather her up in his arms, shooting Roni a glare as he did so. The bear crossed his legs and settled the girl into his lap, speaking softly to her and petting her hair.

"Shh, it's okay, the night guard is just being a big meany," he soothed, as behind him Shaf rolled his eyes impatiently.

"B-b-but she's riiiiight!" Blonde wailed, sobbing into the bears fuzzy chest. "I'm a b-b-bad girl!"

"No, no, you're not a bad girl," Gold's eyes had gone back to being black with white pupils, but anybody could have seen the concern and love in them as he tried to calm the child down. "You were just scared. Remember what we talked about?"

The girl took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, and looked up at him. "P-p-people make m-mistakes," she said softly, but didn't continue.

"But?" Gold prompted.

"But th-that doesn't m-make them bad people."

"Exactly!" The bear ruffled her hair as he praised. "You made some mistakes, but that doesn't mean you're bad." He dropped a kiss on her forehead and was glad to see a bright smile burst across the ghosts face. "So, what does that mean?"

"I'm not a bad girl, I just made a mistake!" She parroted cheerfully. The girl then paused and looked back at Roni, who was still sitting beside the doors. The guard wore a look torn between bemusement, confusion, and ever-so-slight fright.

Her expression turned to one of surprise when she suddenly found her arms full of a sobbing ghost girl.

"I'm so so _so so so_ sorry Miss Night Guard!"

Big-sister mode kicked in, and Roni wrapped her arms around the girl, hugging her gently. Blonde buried her face in the girls t-shirt and twisted her fingers into the fabric, attaching herself like a limpet to Roni's chest. The surprised guard instinctively looked at Gold, who had sat back and was watching with amusement. Shaf, hovering over the bears shoulder, was apparently finding the situation equally funny.

Roni decided that ignoring the audience was her best bet and instead focused on Blonde. The girl had stopped crying now, and was using one hand to trace the Dr. Pepper logo on the shirt.

"Er, so, what's your name, kid?"

"Gabriel St. Claire," she answered timidly, "but everybody calls me Gabby."

"Oh? Do you like to talk a lot?" Roni joked, but when she only received a blank look in return, she coughed and moved on. "You can call me Roni if you'd like, Miss Gabby." The girl giggled at being called 'miss' but nodded.

"Okay Roni!" Gabby agreed cheerfully, all traces of tears gone.

Taking that as a good sign, Roni voiced the most pressing question in her head. "What are you doing here, Gabby?" She asked softly, keeping any accusation out of her voice. "I though I saw you and the other kids move on in that memory we all watched?"

Gabby tilted her head, and for a moment Roni swore the child would begin to cry again, but instead the girl just 'hmmed' to herself. "I dunno why I got to stay," she muttered, tapping her chin. "I remember the light, and that Finn wanted me to hold his hand and go with him but...but I knew there was still a bad man. I didn't want the bad man to hurt any other kids like he'd hurt us. So I stayed."

"Who was the bad man, Gabby?" Roni asked softly, running a hand down the girls back. Despite her icy skin and see-through appearance, she was behaving like Donnie would when he had a bad nightmare.

"I don't remember," the girl rested her head on Roni's chest. "All I remember was that he worked at the pizzeria, and wore a purple shirt." She tugged at Roni's red shirt.

Roni frowned and glanced at Fredbear. "In the memory...wasn't Fazbear wearing a purple shirt?"

The bear nodded. "Yes, he was."

The guard tightened her arms around the girl. "So after your brother went to the light, you stayed to protect all the kids that came to play at the pizzeria?"

"Yes'm," Gabby nodded, "and I watched out for anybody with a purple shirt."

"So whenever a new night guard came in with the purple uniform..."

"-we tried to scare them away." Fredbear cut her off before she could mention the deaths of the five former night guards. "Gabby and I worked together to frighten them off, in order to protect the children."

Roni's eyes flickered to the bear. "But...didn't you know it was Fazbear who did it?"

"Of course not!" Fredbear glared at her, insulted. "I was turned off when it happened. I thought it was one of Geary's henchmen who had placed the bodies in the suits. I never imagined..." He sighed, slumping, and shook his head. "I figured that the man would come back to move the bodies – and what better way then as a night guard, when he's all 'alone' and able to move in the darkness?"

There was silence for a moment as Roni processed that. "So...you're _not_ an evil animatronic hell bent on destroying night guards by manipulating the others to see them as endoskeletons?"

"No."

"This is all because of a misunderstanding and purple shirts?"

"Yes."

Roni stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. Then, she clapped her hands over Gabby's ears and hissed, "Du dummer Teddybär, ich will euch zu zerlegen!"

"I don't speak French," Fredbear deadpanned, a brow raised in amusement.

"That was German," Shaf corrected, "and well said."

Roni dropped her hands from Gabby's ears and rubbed at her face. The little girl immediately demanded to know what was said, promising that she wouldn't tell her mom if she learned a new swear.

"Alright," the guard heaved a heavy side and picked Gabby up, setting the child on her feet before standing up herself. Fredbear and Shaf quickly resumed floating upright in the air, watching her expectantly. "Let me get this straight: none of you are going to try and kill me?" She pointed at all three of them, a stern expression on her face.

"Of course not! You're nice, Miss Roni!" Gabby hugged her leg, but she hadn't been the one Roni was worried about.

"No," Fredbear shook his head. "Now that the truth has come to light, there is no reason to harm you or any other night guard ever again."

"Maybe," Shaf answered, and when both Roni and Fredbear glared at him, he shrugged. "What? Who knows what the future holds. I'm not planning on killing you tonight, if that's any consolation."

"Not really, but I'll take it." Roni was stopped from starting a snark-n-sarcasm battle with Shaf by Gabby pulling on her arm. "Yes?"

The girl held her arms up, the same way Donnie did when he was tired and didn't want to walk. Roni obligingly picked her up, settling her on one hip. "Miss Roni, c'n I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"That man that was hiding in Spring Bonnie said that he hurt us 'cause he wanted to 'save' us. What did he mean?" Tears gathered in the bright blue eyes once more. "Why did he hurt us so bad?"

Roni groaned mentally at the hardball question and swung back and forth, the movement helping her think and soothing the child. "Nobody is born evil, Gabriel. I don't know what happened to Geary, but maybe when he was a little kid like you, something really bad happened. He could of thought that same bad thing would happen to you and the other children, so he decided that if you and the others weren't around, that bad thing couldn't happen to you."

Gabby pursed her lips, thinking hard. "That kinda makes sense. But why didn't he just tell us the bad thing could happen then? Why did he hurt us?"

"He might not have known how to tell you," Roni grimaced, hating that she was almost making Geary sound like a good guy. "Gabriel, listen. What he did was horrible – it was very, _very_ bad and wrong and he should _not_ have done it. He's not a good man at all. He's dangerous and his mind is sick."

"It is? Do we need to take him to a hospital person?"

"No," Roni snorted, imagining dragging the ghost into the Er and asking for a consult. "I just want you to understand that what he did was bad, even if he thought he was doing it for a good reason."

"He made a bad mistake, but he thought he was doing the right thing?" The child summed up. "Like...like when I thought I was doing a good thing, hurting the night guards, but it was a bad mistake?"

"Sort of," Roni hedged, wishing that something, _anything,_ would interrupt this awkward psychology session she was certainly botching. "But Geary is an adult, you're just a child. You can make bad mistakes like that, as long as you learn from them. But Geary is an adult and didn't learn from his mistake, and he doesn't feel bad about it."

Luckily before Gabriel could ask any more questions and Roni could give her a rambling, non-nonsensical answer, _anything_ popped up in the middle of their little circle.

"Hi Roni-Boni-Doni-Ding-Dongi!"

"Oh thank _god_." Roni groaned quietly. In her arms, the child began to bounce.

"Shabby!"

"Gabby!"

The shadow rabbit, completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere he was disrupting, snatched the ghost girl from the guards arms and hugged her tightly while spinning in circles. Fredbear watched the two interact with a fond expression, like a happy father watching his girl play with her favorite uncle. Shaf appeared less-than-pleased and moved to stand beside Roni, well out of range of Gabby's flying legs and Shaf's whip-like ears.

"What is _he_ doing here?" Roni asked, staring at the rabbit in confusion.

"If a location holds the Fazbear name, then Shab and I are able to appear there," Shaf explained in a bored tone.

While Roni had his attention, she decided to ask him the big question. "What _are_ you two, exactly?"

Shaf sniffed, crossing his arms and turning his nose up at her. "Insulted, that's what. Honestly, such a rude question."

"We're made of bubble gum!" Shab helpfully supplied, swinging Gabby so she was upside down and tickling her fiercely. The girl squealed in delight.

"Right," Roni muttered, avoiding the bunny as he swung the girl around, making airplane noises all the way. "Shab, stop moving for a second, please." He obligingly stilled, Gabby still hanging out in front of him parallel to the floor, giggling as she floated. "Can you do me a big, _big_ favor, please?"

"Of course, Banana!"

"Could you play with Gabby while we," she motioned to Fredbear, Shaf and herself, "go take care of some boring adult stuff?"

"Ew, adult stuff!" Shab stuck out his tongue. "Sure, I'll play with Gabby-abby-abby! I could play with you too, Roni-oni-oni!"

"Uh, I'm good," she reassured him. "We'll be back in a little bit, okay?" She grabbed Fredbear's arm and tugged him towards the maze of hallways that made up the attraction. He obligingly floated after her, looking far too amused by the situation.

* * *

The break room was still in one piece when the reached the hidden door. It didn't look as though much had happened while the three had their little show down by the front doors. John was standing in the middle of the room, glancing at the nearby wall every few minutes with either a grimace or glare. Jon and Mike were on the other side of the room by the couches, both looking annoyed. Mari stood between them and John, his shadows having calmed down some in the past half-hour. They simmered angrily around his feet but made no move to attack anybody. Springtrap was sitting on the couch, fiddling with his fingers and looking rather put out that none of the others would answer his questions. Geary was no where in sight.

"Oh good, you _finally_ caught her." John sneered when the three entered. Shaf and Gold sneered right back before following Roni over to the other humans. "What, you've taken _her_ side now?" The man demanded, sounding more annoyed than angry.

"We've picked the _winning_ side, Mr. Fazbear," Shaf corrected, keeping his aloof personality as he addressed the man.

As that was said, Roni had to pause in her explanation about Gabriel to the others. "Why did you agree to help John in the first place?"

Shaf motioned to Gold, who had sat on the couch beside Springtrap and was talking to him in a low voice. "Fredbear mentioned something about causing havoc, and I decided I liked the idea."

"...You're an ass."

"I'm British. Call me a 'toff', please."

"I'll call you a _toff_ , you-"

"That escalated quickly." Mike slapped his hand over Roni's mouth, shutting her up. "You're setting a bad example for Spring. Shut up." He growled in her ear. She rolled her eyes but did so, moving to stand beside Jon as soon as he let her go.

"Tosser," she whispered as soon as the man was between them, which made Shaf snicker appreciatively.

Jon tried not to groan at the pairs antics, though he did have to admit that it was easing the tension in the room ever-so-slightly. He looked at his father, who was now standing alone in the middle of the room, having lost his henchmen. "Dad," he got the mans attention, "I think it's time we got you back to the hospital, okay?" He took a step forward, his hands raised to show he had no weapons.

"No! I told you, I'm not insane, and I'm _not_ going back there." John snarled, glancing at the wall once more as something over there apparently moved.

"You have to go back," Jon spoke in a soft, soothing voice. "The phantoms couldn't get you there, remember? Once we get you back and you start taking your medicine, they'll be gone for good."

"They'll _never_ be gone!" John roared, slamming his fist into the closest table. "They're always there, and they'll always _be_ there! Just waiting and watching and waiting and watching..."

Springtrap moved from the couch, his pistons and gears creaking as he stood. He moved to stand beside Jon, looking at the man with clear concern. "Mr. Fazbear," he spoke in his soft voice – apparently the only thing that had survived the test of time in the warehouse – and watched as the man flinched but put all his attention on the yellow rabbit. "There's nobody by the wall. You're seeing things that aren't there. Jon," he rested his decaying hand on Jon's shoulder, "thinks that the doctors can help you. What if we took you back to this special hospital, and if they don't help you can come back here?" By the end his tone was optimistic.

John actually looked as though he was considering this for a moment, before he snapped his head back to the blank space on the wall. His breathing sped up. "No...no, I can't go back!" He hollered, grabbing at his hair. "They'll follow. They'll come. They always do."

"Who?" Gabriel asked, sticking her head through the door and looking at the man in front of her with curiosity. Roni nearly swore again as she skipped in, looking at the gathered adults curiously. "Oh, hi Spring Bonnie!" She squealed, running over to him (and running straight through Jon in the process, making him shudder). The girl threw her arms around the rabbits leg, hugging him tightly. "I haven't seen you in so-so-so-so loooooong!" She looked up at him with her big blue eyes. "I missed you and your guitar Mr. Spring Bonnie!"

Before the startled but happy bunny could answer, John let out an odd croaking sound and stumbled back, away from the ghost.

"No, no, not them too," he groaned, completely missing Shab as he slithered into the room, clinging quietly to the ceiling like a lizard. Roni raised a brow at him, but the shadow simply grinned and stuck out a much-too-long lizard-tongue out. John had put a hand to his forehead and was rubbing at it, looking pale and ill. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry..." He buried his head in his hands.

"Dad?" Jon wanted to touch the mans shoulder, but was stopped when Shab, tired of playing 'lizard tag' with Gabby, detached from the ceiling and floated behind the older man. The shadow glanced at Gabby, who was clinging to Spring Bonnie and watching everything with a curious smile. He winked at her and ducked behind the man, vanishing for a moment.

When the bunny reappeared, Roni and Mike almost screamed – Shab had shifted his form, appearing as a shadowed form of Mangle. Gabby beamed, but before she could make a noise Roni clapped a hand over her mouth, shaking her head and putting a finger to her lips. She and the others watched as Shab disappeared once more, then popped up over John's shoulder looking like a twisted version of Chica. When that didn't garner the proper reaction, he frowned and disappeared once more, then reappeared in his next shape.

Roni choked trying to keep her laughter from bubbling over. She dropped her hand, and Gabby giggled loudly. She tugged on Spring Bonnie's arm until he picked her up, allowing her to get a better view of Shab, who was no longer a rabbit or a chicken. Instead he had taken on Marionettes form, only it appeared a lot darker since he was made out of shadow, and was mugging for them behind John's bowed head. Mari rolled his eyes at Shaf and Fredbear, but said nothing. Mike was wisely avoiding looking at Mari's sour expression, knowing it would set him off like the two girls. Jon ignored them and moved forward, shooting Shab a warning glare and motioning for him to stop.

Shab, being his own shadow and completely oblivious to body language, didn't. Instead he leaned forward so his head was resting on John's shoulder and pulled a funny face for Gabby, who clapped in delight.

John felt the weight settle at his side, and he carefully lifted his head and turned to look. Phantom Marionette was resting there, looking at him with those horrifying white pinhole eyes that held nothing but hate, disgust, and absolute loathing. The man screamed bloody murder, making the phantom puppet jerk back in surprise. Ignoring the others in the room, he bolted, leaving the hidden door banging open and shut in his wake.

Jon immediately started after his father, snapping at the others to help him, since the man 'wasn't in his right mind' and might hurt himself. Neither Roni nor Mike voiced their opinions that they didn't give a damn what happened to the man – instead, they followed Jon out. Roni ordered Springtrap, Fredbear, and Shab to look after Gabby, and that if they moved and put themselves in danger she would staple them to the floor. Shaf and Mari followed her from the room, and the five split up to search the halls for the elderly man.

"If I were a demented old man, I would turn...left?" Roni glanced down the hall by the security office, which was empty. She tried to peek into the office through the long window, but she couldn't see anything. Muttering to herself, she got on her hands and knees and crawled to the other end of the hall, careful to avoid being seen. She didn't hear anything by the time she reached the last hall, the one that led to the locked exit door and the office. Unsure of whether that was a good or bad sign, she kept crawling until she could peek into the security office.

There was no sign of John Fazbear, but the ladder to the attic was hanging down again. Roni stood and quickly dusted off her hands and the knees of her jeans. The man hadn't pulled any weapons during the confrontation, so she was reasonably sure he was unarmed. After a moments thought, she swung the Toy-Bonnie guitar replica over her shoulder and ascended the ladder.

The attic was dark, except for the dim light coming from the streetlamp outside the window. Keeping close to the wall, Roni edged her way around the trap door and began to look for the man on the darker side of the attic. She didn't find him, though she did shove a few dusty Fredbear and Spring Bonnie plushies in her hoodie pocket for her and her brother while she searched. Slowly she inched towards the light, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, the dusty room getting to her.

"They're not going to get me they're not they're not they're not-"

Ah, there he was, crouching beneath the window in the shadow of the wall, where it was hard to see.

"Mr. Fazbear?" Roni crept forward into the light, keeping her footfalls soft. "Are you alright?" She wasn't overly fond of this man, but he was Jon's father, and her boss obviously still loved his dad despite all that had happened.

He stopped muttering, his eyes flickering to her. He fiddled with something in his hands. "You're one of them."

"One of who?" Roni stayed several feet away, having caught a glint of silver between his fingers. She really wasn't in the mood to bring a guitar to a knife fight.

He stood, his head haloed by the light coming through the window, and swayed slightly on his feet. A figure materialized beside him, and Roni had to remember to start breathing again when she realized who it was.

"Geary."

"Byrd." He nodded to her, though his eyes were latched to whatever the man had in his hands. "You need to get the others and leave."

"But-"

The murderer moved his glare to her, his brow heavy over his eyes. "I will not let Johnathan Fazbear die. It is too good for him. You need to remove the others from the building before he can harm them."

"What?"

Geary just returned his gaze to the mans hands. The mans fingers fumbled, and a small flame burst to life, illuminating a small, silver lighter. Roni jumped back as he lifted it, eyes going unfocused.

"I will burn them all, and the phantoms will leave." He turned and pressed the lighter to the nearest cardboard box, which was full of dried-out posters and other kindling.

"Go, now." Geary hissed. Roni didn't need to be told twice – she spun around and raced to the hatch in the floor, and nearly slipped off the ladder twice in her panic. Already smoke was clogging the attic room – she could tell from the way the light flickered as the fire hungrily at up the cardboard boxes. She ran from the office and down the halls, yelling for the others at the top of her lungs.

"Roni, what are- _oof!"_

She ran headlong into Mari, and the two went over in a tangle of limbs. In a poof, Mari disappeared, then reappeared a few feet away, brushing himself off.

"Honestly, whats the ru-"

"FIRE!" Roni grabbed his arms, shaking him. "Fazbear set the attic on fire, and it's going up fast! We've gotta get the others and get outta here!"

Mari blinked as he was shaken, then focused and pried the girls hands from his arms. The ridiculously tall animatronic picked her up, much like how she'd picked up Gabby before, and settled her on his weird rounded hip. Ignoring her insulted protests, the puppet teleported them both to the employee break room.

"Oh god I hate when you do that," the girl groaned as the world swirled around her.

"It's the fastest way to travel," Mari said shortly as Golden Freddy, Spring Bonnie and Shab all looked at him in surprise. Without preamble the puppet dropped her into the old rabbits arms. Springtrap caught her and held her bridal-style, while Gabby floated beside them, looking on curiously. "Fazbear set the place on fire. Head for the front doors while I find the others." Before anyone could voice a question, he vanished.

Gold immediately snatched Gabby out of the air and held her close before leading Shab and Springtrap (who refused to let the grumbling Roni down) out the door. They loped through the four hallways that separated the break room from the entrance. By the time they reached the doors, Mike and Jon had both been dropped off and were reeling as they tried to get their bearings. Shaf and Mari appeared as soon as the others reached the doors. The shadow bear touched the doors, and whatever force had been keeping it closed dissipated, allowing the nine to rush outside.

Roni finally wiggled her way free from Springtrap's arms once they were several yards from the building. The second her feet hit the concrete, she turned to look at Fazbear's Fright. The attic window, which was positioned above the entrance doors, had shattered, and flames were licking the outside of the building. Smoke was billowing out of the small room, but there was no sign of Geary or Fazbear senior. The rabbit wrapped an arm around her front, pulling her back, as though afraid she would try to run back to the building.

"Where's dad?" Jon demanded, having been caught completely off guard when Mari popped in out of nowhere and grabbed him.

"Geary said he'd get your dad out of the building," Roni answered.

"And you _believed_ him?" Jon demanded angrily, rounding on his night guard. Before they could start a fight, Mari grabbed his shoulder.

"Hang on, Jon," he turned the man away from the building, "Geary got your dad out the back. He said he'd keep your dad there until the police and firemen arrive. They'll be here as soon as we call." He glanced at the gathered humans, animatronics, and ghosts, "Which means some of you need to leave."

Shaf and Gold both frowned, as did Gabby. "But I don't wanna go without Roni!" She protested.

"We'll meet you at the restaurant, okay?" Roni comforted the small girl. "I promise, I'll be there as soon as possible, okay?"

The girl held out her hand, pinkie up. Roni held up her own pinkie and intertwined them, then gave a firm shake. Gabby nodded sternly and withdrew her hand, leaning into Gold's chest. They vanished without a trace. Shab quickly followed in a poof of black smoke. Shaf was about to follow, but paused when his eyes passed over Springtrap.

"What about him?"

Mari waved the bear off. "I've got Spring, you go ahead." The shadow shrugged and vanished. "Mike, call your boys, make sure they bring a few firetrucks and an ambulance for your father." He moved to stand beside Springtrap and Roni. "I'm taking Roni back to the restaurant."

"But-" Mike moved to argue, but a glare silenced him.

"She doesn't need this kind of stress," he snarled.

Mike snorted. "Like any of us do?"

Mari rolled his eyes at the sarcastic police chief, but waited until he had pulled out his now-functioning cellphone and dialed 9-1-1 to grab both Springtrap's and Roni's arms and poof them away.

* * *

There was a slightly chaotic scene back at the restaurant when they poofed in. Mari had misjudged his teleporting and instead of landing on the stage, they landed on a table. Springtrap fell off with a loud yelp, landing on top of Blue, who had been sitting at said table with several others while waiting for Jon to return. Teddy was quick to catch Roni before she could follow suit, and he set her gently on the floor while growling at Mari about being more careful with the 'fragile humans.'

"Roni! You came home fast!" Gabby launched herself at her new favorite human, wrapping her cold arms around her neck and holding her tightly. "Goldie said it would be a few hours."

"Goldie?" Roni raised a brow at the bear, who merely gave her an annoyed look in return.

"Yep! He's not Fredbear anymore, he's Golden Freddy, but that's too many letters, so now he's Goldie!"

Both girls smiled at the old bears obvious discomfort. Crossing her arms beneath the child's legs so she could hold her up more comfortably, Roni turned to look at the assembled animatronics. They were trying to take in the rapid appearance of their night guard, an apparently not-possessed Golden Freddy, a ghost child, and an ancient animatronic that only the original Fazgang recognized.

Bonnie had leapt up the second he saw Springtrap pinwheel before falling off the table. He jumped clear across the table and seized the bunny by his arms, hauling him off the protesting and horrified Blue.

"Spring, is that really you?" He demanded happily, holding the rabbit at arms length so he could look him up and down.

Springtrap blinked for a moment, getting his bearings, before the face in front of him clicked into focus. "Bonnie!" He cried in delight, throwing his moldering arms around his old friend. "I'm so happy to see you!" He gushed.

Behind them, Blue got to his feet and brushed off the decaying bits of suit that had flaked off when the bunnies fell. He was muttering to himself about it being disgusting and dirty, but a quick _thwap_ to the back of his head by Golden Freddy shut him up.

All of the animatronics had gathered by now – Toys and Fazgang alike. As soon as Bonnie was done hugging his old bestie, Freddy stepped forward for his own hug. Foxy and Chica quickly followed. The Toys, meanwhile, sat on the other side of the table, watching in slight confusion but glad that the others were so happy. Mari had disappeared for the moment, leaving Roni to fall under the scrutiny of the curious animatronics. She groaned but sat beside Teddy when he motioned for her to join them. Soon everyone was seated and waiting for the story to unfold.

Just as she began to explain everything that had happened, Mari appeared from the kitchen, munching on another cupcake. He sat beside Goldie, nibbling and listening, interjecting his own opinion when needed. Springtrap, Gabby and Goldie all chipped in as well. The ghost girl was being passed between the Fazgang, who had all immediately recognized her and wanted hugs. Shaf and Shab were there as well, bobbing in the shadows and making sure the story was told right with either arrogant interruptions or hyperactive non-sequiturs.

The night guard and others had arrived around midnight. It was two in the morning before Mike arrived, tie undone and soot on his brow. He slumped through the doors and was immediately accosted by a concerned ghost girl. Startled, he caught her as she flew to him, and was immediately met with a barrage of questions.

"Hi Officer Mike! Why do you smell like smoke? Why is there black stuff on your face?" She reached up and brushed a finger against the soot, which didn't move or come off on her hand. "Did everything end okay at the haunting place? Did that mean Mr. Fazbear go to jail again?"

Roni was close behind the girl. She pried her off of Mike, rolling her eyes at the limpet-like tendencies Gabby had. "Go play with Shab, kid." She pushed the now-floating child towards the bunny, who had heard and was immediately trying to coax her into playing 'Puppet-is-it-tag.'

"So," Roni led the way back to the table that was crowded with animatronics, "What happened after Mari kidnapped me?"

"I did not!" The puppet protested, before having to vanish to avoid Shab and Gabby, who then bounced off to find him in the basement.

"I called in reinforcements." Mike accepted a slice of pizza from Chi, who had been trying to ply Roni with some throughout her re-telling. She'd refused, and both chickens were happy to have someone enjoying their food. "They got there pretty quick – had to break down the gate to get into the park, but the firefighters said that the park should have had an emergency protocol in place, so the owner said he wouldn't sue for the damages."

"Soon as the fire was under control Jon's dad reappeared, stumbling 'round and talking like a crazy man." The officers eyes squinted in amusement. "He kept talking about seeing ghosts and possessed animatronics. Jon got him herded into the ambulance and had him taken to Juniper Hill."

"Soon as everything was cleared up I followed Jon. We spoke with the director there, explained that Jon hadn't approved his fathers release, and that Fazbear had actually just attempted to _murder_ Jon and I in a fire. I called in a favor from a judge and got some papers signed. Jonathan Fazbear will _never_ be released from Juniper Hill again." He scratched the back of his neck. "Jon also said not to worry about Geary. I think Fazbear's Fright burning sent him on, or something."

"Good," Roni muttered, slumping over the table in relief. "Where's the boss at now?"

"He went home for the night, and said that you could do the same if you wanted. Apparently he trusts the animatronics enough to leave them home alone." He wiggled his brow teasingly at the gathered robots.

"Hah. The place would be in ruins by opening time. I'll stay and keep an eye on 'em. Go get some rest, officer." Roni waved him off. Mike nodded and stood, ruffling her hair before he bid the animatronics goodnight and left.

Silence descended on the restaurant for a few minutes. The animatronics dispersed as they realized that story time was over. The Fazgang immediately dragged both Spring and Gold to the stage, where they all sat and spoke softly, catching each other up on everything that had gone on while the former was gone, and the latter was possessed.

Teddy stayed at the table beside Roni, looking through the papers Jon had left about everything stored in the warehouse. He had a highlighter held daintily between his large fingers and was going through the lists, marking what could be useful for the new sections of the restaurant. Chi, Blue, and Mangle all wandered off to do their own thing, loathe to interrupt the reunion among the originals and not wanting to help Teddy with the tedious lists.

Roni pillowed her head on her arms and quickly fell asleep to the shuffling of papers and soft murmurs of voices, oblivious to Mari covering her with his new favorite pink blanket or to Teddy patting her back when she began to stir from a nightmare.

* * *

Jonathan Fazbear, senior, sat in a wheelchair near the floor-to-ceiling windows in the Day Room. A nurse dressed in cheerful Winnie-the-Pooh scrubs made sure he took his meds – little round blue pills that did _nothing_ to vanish the phantoms – then pushed him to the window and left him there to sun.

John glared out the window angrily, watching as the _real_ crazy people wandered around the large back courtyard in white robes under the watchful eyes of the day staff. He could barely see his reflection – balding and pale, with singed hair and burnt fingers. As he peered past his own face, something black and stick-like began to creep up behind him.

The Phantom Puppet burst into view over his shoulder, making him jump and utter a little cry. The crazy men and women in the room glanced over at him – the ones who could notice, anyway. A nurse carefully changed her path through the room to move a bit closer, but when John did nothing else she moved on.

The man glared at the now-clear window, seething. The pills didn't work, just like he'd told Jon and the doctors. The pills never worked.

On the other side of the room, the ghost of Peter Geary crossed his arms and leaned against the room, a smug smile on his face as he watched John jump at things that nobody else could see. A little wave of his hand had a shadowy Chica popping up in the window, appearing just how John had described her. He chuckled as John yelped and jumped again, prompting the nurse to turn around and comfort him.

Geary chuckled happily as John insisted he wasn't crazy. If the ghost had it his way, John would be far off the deep end before long.

As he summoned a shadowy version of Foxy to appear, he had to admit that there were worse ways to spend eternity.

* * *

 **AN: And that's the end of Hieroglyphs! Thank you so much for your input and feedback during this story - I really appreciate it!**

 **The next story, UL: Smoke Signals will be up soon, I hope. School starts in a week and I'm currently working two jobs, so it might take a bit for me to get it going. I hope not, though!**

 **Even though this is the last chapter, REVIEWS are still LOVED and APPRECIATED and AMAZINGLY MOTIVATING! Thank you so much for reading (and hopefully enjoying) this story!**


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